


PROJECT: Pulsefire

by PuncturedButterfly



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/F, and a couple others that I'll add at my own leisure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:21:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23527576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuncturedButterfly/pseuds/PuncturedButterfly
Summary: "In order to become PROJECT, you have to surrender your humanity. The technology takes over your soul."Detective Caitlyn Fitzwilliam, one of the best and brightest the Wardens have to offer, is dead-set on bringing Viktor in for his severe violation of human rights. What she uncovers during her investigations however, is far more atrocious than what she had originally imagined.
Relationships: Caitlyn/Vi (League of Legends)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some words of warning beforehand: This story is the product of sheer boredom during a time of working from home since the office is closed. I might not write much more than what is currently sitting in my folders on my PC.
> 
> It’s also going to address some body issues that the canon introduced, although I will expand in that area a bit. I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll leave it at that, but I’ll try to remember to update the tags as I go.
> 
> You’ll notice a clear Mass Effect inspiration, but I guess that’s fine since this is fan work and I don’t care.
> 
> Regardless; if that’s not your cup of tea, you’d best turn back.

Caitlyn pushed off the wall with a shrug of her shoulder and started walking down the street.

Her hands were buried within the depths of her pockets and she had her ponytail tucked into the back of her coat. The high collar was popped up and brushing along her cheeks, concealing part of her face from unwanted attention.

After all, nobody needed to see her uniform and draw attention to her. She needed to be invisible for what she was currently doing and the criminal trivialities of the people milling about were her smallest concern.

Her eyes were trained on the man twelve metres ahead of her. He was also in a coat and strolling along without haste.

The city around Caitlyn was lit up with bright neon lights — signs that were advertising all kinds of things; spanning from current news and gossip over the most popular diet recently across to material things like the latest fashion trend and newest tech wonders.

The machinery was running smoothly; grinding ruthlessly. Trying to force things onto people who had neither the need nor the money for them, imposing upon them the pressure of owning them simply for the purpose of owning them.

The entire city was overflowing from excess and decadence, preying upon the slaves of vogue and their desire to be a part of it. And it all showed in the way the people strove for it.

And so the man seemed perfectly inconspicuous among them. But no, his disinterest in his surroundings gave him away. This was a shopping mile, and the throng of people Caitlyn was weaving her way through was staring at everything and nothing behind the windows proudly displaying wares from all around the cluster.

But he, in his casual gait, was disregarding all of it.

Caitlyn smiled a pleased little smile. He probably had no idea that she was onto him.

One after the other, they rounded a corner and passed onto a side street. This was where Caitlyn needed to be more careful. She fell back a bit, but kept her gaze fixed firmly on his back.

He glanced over his shoulder once, but Caitlyn had foreseen this and swiftly ducked behind an advertising column before he could see her.

Then he himself ducked around another corner and Caitlyn followed silently. The noise of the main street was echoing in the distance and the farther they moved away from it, the darker the surroundings became.

Great looming warehouses lined the winding narrow paths here, shabby and rusted from the perpetual rain that saw a great part of the planet’s surface from time to time. Caitlyn saw him reaching into his pocket and she tensed in anticipation.

What he pulled out was a phone, however, and Caitlyn slowly exhaled. He put it to his ear and soon after began speaking in a hushed tone with someone. The conversation was over quickly, having lasted no longer than maybe fifteen seconds, but Caitlyn took note of it regardless.

He weaved his way through the tall buildings until he came to a stop in front of a warehouse that looked abandoned. Caitlyn hid behind a corner and blinked, her oculars activating heat vision mode and easily finding the man even behind the brick walls.

The storehouse itself was layered with something that blocked her heat vision, which was simultaneously suspicious for a common storehouse and exactly what Caitlyn had expected.

This was where things got serious. She waited for a minute and began prepping herself before venturing forth.

She unholstered her plasma blaster and the firearm spun to life in her hands; the retractable barrel clicked into place and the lens quickly adjusted themselves before going into standby. Caitlyn made sure the weapon was on safety unless she absolutely needed it not to be.

She linked it to her tech-tool and briefly checked its functionality. Her nano suit rippled across her skin, a protective layer that would allow her to withstand gunfire without actually wearing any cumbersome protection.

When Caitlyn was satisfied with her equipment, she approached the door and quietly entered the building.

It was dark inside, safe for a sole lamp with a bright bulb hanging from the ceiling. It illuminated the immediate space right behind the door, but not much beyond that. Her oculars switched to night vision and Caitlyn crept forward.

There were no heat signatures in her vicinity. Caitlyn followed a rather winding route through the storehouse that ended somewhere in the north-western part of the building. The closer she got, the clearer became the subdued voices. Two people were talking with one another, only briefly pausing their conversation to greet the new arrival.

Caitlyn took position behind a large boulder that was shrouded with a grey woollen blanket. Peeking around it, she could see what was essentially a laboratory of some sorts, hidden from view by a wall of stacked crates.

The man Caitlyn had been following was in the middle of shedding his disguise, revealing a white lab coat underneath. He was busying himself over a military-issue table made out of sheet iron to her left. It looked dented in some places, as if it had been moved around carelessly.

On top of the table lay various data cubes, a few of them currently accessed. Their holographic displays threw a warm glow into the workspace.

Caitlyn couldn’t make out their contents, but she saw a handful of diagrams and a logo she had seen a lot of times recently — and the reason she was after these men in the first place. It was a mechanical skull with burning eyes.

A symbol of anarchism and destruction, having its origins in a man named Viktor. He himself called it “innovation” and “betterment” of humans, but it was really only the lunatic visions of a madman.

Caitlyn set her jaw; she had been following leads of missing people and mysterious abductions and connected them all to this Viktor, although she was still missing crucial parts in her investigation to bring him in. Mostly, because she still had no idea where he was hiding.

She swept her gaze around the space; green liquid was bubbling like acid within giant glass containers lining the walls. Two other men were standing in front of them, talking and gesturing. They also wore white lab coats.

But the real catch was to their right: In the biggest tank, filled to the brim with a clear, liquid substance, was a human. The man in the tank was naked, his body shaven free of any hair growth. Caitlyn noted that he had not just been sterilized, but his genitals had been completely removed. Tubes had been inserted into his skull and into his spine. His body was skinny and almost malnourished, he seemed to be comatose.

Caitlyn’s face darkened as she took in the enhancements — his arms and legs had also been removed and exchanged with cybernetic replacements. A metal plate was strapped over his mouth and nose, small barbs dug into his face to keep it in place. Attached to it was another tube, this one pumping with bright orange liquid that led to an orifice in his chest.

The right side of his face was blackened for some reason and Caitlyn could see an orange lens socketed into the hollow of his eye. Whatever had been done to this man, it was horrific.

Caitlyn returned her attention to the two men — scientists? She’d have to run them through a BFR later — that were talking animatedly to the third man that had now went to join them.

“Is everything set?” he asked his colleagues, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Good, then let’s begin. Viktor is waiting for our report.”

He walked over to the tank with the man in it and began typing in commands to the console in front of it. Red lights on the small holographic display switched over to green as he worked and his colleagues went over to the data cubes to take more notes.

He stepped back when he was finished and Caitlyn felt the familiar tension coiling in her abdomen that came right before she sprung into action. Her rifle lay in an easy grip in her hands, but her hackles rose at the direct mention of Viktor’s name.

She was in the right after all. Finally, after chasing leads that had only led to dead-ends for three weeks.

For a moment, all was still in the laboratory, save for some beeps and flickering lights. Then, the man in the tank jerked awake.

His eye was wide open, the other one glowing bright, and bubbles rose from his mouth… compartment? He seemed to find his orientation and fixed the three men gleefully observing him through the glass. Then, his arms and legs twitched, he threw his head around and strangled sounds reached Caitlyn’s ears.

Dread rose in her stomach.

The ocular turned red and with a screech more befitting a feral beast than a man, he slammed against the glass tank, breaking it with one swift strike. It burst, and suddenly everything was chaos.

The tubes connecting him to the machinery around him ripped, he fell to the ground unceremoniously, the liquid was splashing everywhere. The three men jumped back from the mess, their eyes still trained intently on their creation.

“Quick!” commanded one of them, “Restrain it before it breaks anything!”

But it was too late; the cyborg had already risen and was roaring as he all but threw himself at the scientist nearest to him.

A crevice along his arm snapped open and the hilt of what was undoubtedly a weapon slid into his palm. He made a quick motion and just like that, a vicious, brightly glowing blade manifested on the hilt. An analysis via her oculars told Caitlyn that this weapon was some sort of silicon-carbide mixture.

The other men could only look on in horror as their colleague was ripped apart right in front of them, the sheer strength and fury of their experiment rendering them motionless.

“ _Shite!_ ” Caitlyn swore loudly and trained her rifle on the cyborg.

Her cover would be blown, but she had already waited longer than she should have.

The cyborg threw away the arms he had torn from the scientist’s body, his remains a bloody mess on the warehouse floor, and was stalking over to the other two. His chest was heaving, veins popping out on his skull.

He was so focused on the two men that he didn’t notice Caitlyn rising from behind the crates and firing a precise shot right towards his head. Her face was an iron mask; there was neither time nor reason to make this an apprehension anymore, this man needed to be put down immediately.

To her horror, the shot from her rifle only clanked loudly against his skull, before bouncing off and disappearing within the interior of the warehouse somewhere. His head bent back from the impact, before quickly snapping back into place. He rounded on her as soon as his eyes found her and Caitlyn’s blood ran cold.

Another angry roar left him, irritation and rage written clearly across his blemished face, and Caitlyn bolted. Luckily for her, not so lucky for the remaining scientists, they re-attracted the cyborg’s attention with their incessant screaming.

They were stumbling over themselves to flee, having fallen to the ground and writhing in the liquid. The cyborg stalked over to them and all Caitlyn could hear were their screams dying out in bloody gurgles as they were swiftly and brutally killed.

She repositioned herself behind another wall of crates, clutching her rifle to her chest and setting her oculars into combat mode, displaying various new visuals to her. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, her mind racing as she heard the cyborg closing in on her position.

His heavy breathing and loud footfalls gave him away immediately. He mumbled incoherent things and as Caitlyn spied around the corner, she noticed him grasping at his head. He doubled over with an angry scream, obviously in pain. His weapon lay next to him, discarded. Where the tubes had been ripped form his skull and spine, dark fluid was flowing down his body; it didn’t quite look like blood, but it must have been something similar.

Caitlyn didn’t stop to examine it however, and instead seized the opportunity. She aimed her rifle and fired squarely at him. His head snapped back up, red ocular rotating at her, but he fell nonetheless as Caitlyn shot him in his chest with a special round.

The bullet popped open and an electrical net quickly crawled over his entire body, like black tendrils, before lighting up and sending a vicious shock through his system that instantly rendered him unconscious. He screamed once more, an agonised and broken sound, before he fell to his knees and then keeled over with a heavy thud.

Caitlyn kept her rifle trained on him for a long moment after that, searching for any movement, but he was still. She exhaled the breath she had held inside her chest and stared at the heap of a man lying on the ground before finally getting up.

Her rifle was slung back around her shoulder, but not retracted, and she wiped a hand across her forehead, wiping away the sweat that had gathered there.

She approached the cyborg. His ocular was blown out, fluid still leaking from him, and Caitlyn swiftly stepped back into the laboratory to check on the others. As expected, they were all dead. One had been torn apart, the others had their chests slashed open and ribcages punctured, respectively.

“Bloody hell,” she murmured.

Caitlyn gave herself a moment, then she called in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *BFR = biometric facial recognition
> 
> This idea is something I had sitting in my folders for about three years now, but never gotten around to actually writing it. Since corona being rampant here in Germany as well, I’ve been banished from the office to work from home.
> 
> I like to count it as a small blessing, since now I’ve got some time to give a bit more thought to this scenario.
> 
> This — is the result of that time.
> 
> I'm really hyped for the Arcane series btw :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First chap was probably a bit much, considering there’s basically no dialogue in it lol
> 
> Don’t worry, I’ll deliver on that end.

There was agitated yelling coming from the inside of the Chief’s office. What few officers still remained in the building were ignoring the shouting as best they could; busying themselves with desk work or outright fleeing the vicinity, lest they be the next target of their boss’s ire.

It was late in the evening, easily past eleven, and Caitlyn had been summoned into his office half an hour ago. She had returned from her trip down the warehouses, which was now swarming with Wardens that had been called in, and not even taken any time to wash off the worst of the night before presenting herself before her superior.

Chief Reginald Higgins waved a data cube around, “What the hell, Caitlyn? Three men dead and an illegal human experiment? Stars’ sake, this is worse than the Familiar case.”

He drove a hand through his short hair and paced around his office. Caitlyn stood before his desk, hands clasped together behind her back, ever professional. She was watching him intently but didn’t interrupt his rant.

The Chief eventually threw the cube back on the table, where it clanked against all the others, “I can’t believe you found evidence to link these cases together.”

It was spoken with exasperation, but Caitlyn knew he was secretly impressed. Probably also annoyed, because he had explicitly told her to drop the issue, but impressed nonetheless. They had just begun to review the scanned data from the lab and listened to the audio file Caitlyn had recorded during her investigation, confirming that Viktor was responsible for both the abductions and the experiments.

The Chief sighed.

“I expect this to be cleaned up, Detective. Before I present this to the Commissioner, which I will have to,” he reminded her with a pointed look, “I want a neat and gapless record, with names of the involved parties, dates of the abductions and the lab evaluation before anything leaves the station.”

“Understood.”

“You uncovered this mess, you will solve it.”

Caitlyn nodded her assent; it was what she had planned to do anyways. No way she would let anyone else touch this case. Chief Higgins leant back in his chair, severe gaze sweeping over the cubes once more, before waving at them.

“Take these with you and get started first thing in the morning. Dismissed.”

With that, he stood and walked over to his window to stroke his beard and give Caitlyn time to clear his desk. When she stepped out of his office, her colleagues watched her curiously. She acknowledged them, but didn’t talk to them.

Back in her own office, Caitlyn dropped the cubes onto her desk and leant on it for a brief moment. A small smile grazed her features, small but pleased, and she decided to call it a day. She’d have enough material to dig through in the morning to keep herself up for another night or two. No need to overexert herself now.

She quickly changed her clothes in the women’s dressing room and put her things into her locker. On her way out of the station, she knew she was still being watched by her colleagues — all of them nosy about the case — but that’d have to wait.

Down in the garage, Caitlyn climbed into her car and sped off into the night. First thing she would do when she got home, was taking a hot shower. And tomorrow, she would finally begin to put the damn pieces together.

* * *

A week had passed since Caitlyn had started to merge all the data into one big, messy, human experimenting clusterfuck and relayed the finished record to her superior officer. Seven abductions in total were connected to the whole thing, all having taken place during unspecific times of day, and all in Piltover or Zaun jurisdictions respectively.

The victims themselves had been randomly chosen, it appeared, and Caitlyn had also uncovered that the three scientists from the warehouse had been employees of different small businesses that specialised in the installation of body modifications — which, in turn, had ties to the Council.

Granted, these ties all seemed to be ordinary, but, choosing to forego wisdom in favour of truth, Caitlyn had naturally added that detail to her official report as well.

The Chief hadn’t been keen on that, but also hadn’t ordered her to reassess her report.

And while she had waited for news, Caitlyn had busied herself with some other old cases that a few of her fellow Wardens had helpfully supplied her with. That, and pestering the physicians with questions about the cyborg’s condition.

He hadn’t awoken since his apprehension in the laboratory and thus, hadn’t been able to be presented for the questioning. This was placing the whole investigation on an unfortunate hold and Caitlyn wasn’t exactly known for her patience when there was still work to be done.

Her not being very patient was also the exact reason why she had decided to inform her superior of an interesting detail she had kept out of the Viktor case record — for the simple reason that she hadn’t managed to put together a cohesive addendum in time.

It was just past ten in the morning when Caitlyn conveniently passed her Chief in the hallway. She pretended to be surprised to see him, but before she could initiate conversation, he waved her into his office with a roll of his eyes.

Caitlyn stopped in front of his desk and waited until he was seated.

He pushed a few cubes around and dragged a coffee mug from one side of the desk to the other before entwining his fingers and looking at her expectantly, “Shoot.”

“Anything new on the Viktor case?”

He sighed, “No, nothing. The Commissioner is aware, I’ve received notice, but I haven’t heard anything yet.”

He shot her a look, “Seems like you opened quite a can of worms there.”

Caitlyn waited for a polite second before continuing, “There’s something more I have found, but haven’t had the time to add to the file.”

Chief Higgins groaned and fell back into his chair, “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”

Caitlyn blithely ignored that statement, “I reviewed some of the old cases and noticed two missing people files that had still not been resolved.”

“Caitlyn…”

“I believe they’re also connected to this.”

“ _Detective._ ”

“None of the verified abductions were reported to us directly by civilians, which means no-one even cared that these people were suddenly gone. This is a similar matter in these two cases.”

She had brought them with her, of course, and presented them to her superior.

“Granted, there hadn’t been any violence committed against them, but the reports clearly state—”

“Alright, that’s enough!” the Chief stopped her with a rather decisive command.

She went silent. He looked at her with a conflicted expression and Caitlyn stared back.

“You do realise what you’re doing, don’t you?”

Caitlyn pretended not to know what he was talking about, but they both knew. She wasn’t an idiot, after all. If she were, she’d have never been elevated within the force the way she was.

“Caitlyn, you’re a damn fine cop. But this is a delicate matter. The Council is involved, as per these scientists. The Commissioner is probably trying his damnest to keep you out of their line of fire right now.”

Her jaw muscles flexed. She knew that he was trying to keep a low profile here — being Chief required him to have a unique reputation after all, but Caitlyn wasn’t willing to let this slide in favour of him saving face.

_A fine cop,_ she thought.

_My arse. Practise what you preach, Chief._

“So I’d advise you to keep your head down and do your damn job until you receive further notice.”

He softened his blow, “We can’t keep adding to this shitpile just on a hunch of yours.”

“It isn’t a hunch, Chief! Give me some more time and I’ll prove there’s more to this.”

He shook his head, “There’s already enough as it is! What else are you going to suggest? _Human cloning?_ ”

Chief Higgins regarded her, “Look. I know you’re trying to… _fix_ what happened to your parents. But you can’t solve every mystery.”

Caitlyn’s expression soured for a brief second, then she donned a stony mask at the mention of her parents, “This has nothing to do with that.”

The Chief gave her a smile, “Caitlyn, you’re working yourself into the ground. Some cases will simply never be solved. Because of a lack of a culprit, or evidence, or simply because we fail to connect the dots.”

He went on, “In this case, I’d say leave it be. It’s enough.”

He was the first to avert his eyes and Caitlyn took a shaky breath. He had never intoned her parents into his rebukes this explicitly before and Caitlyn suddenly felt foolish. Maybe he was right; maybe she was reading into things here.

Maybe some cases would forever remain unresolved.

She nodded and then left his office.

Caitlyn went to the washroom and allowed herself a second to regain her composure. A look into the mirror told her the story of her father’s blue eyes and his sharp brows and her mother’s full lips and dark hair.

She turned away and stalked back to her office.

Dropping the cubes back onto the desk, Caitlyn exhaled and treated herself to a cup of Earl Grey — a classic — and lazily swiped through the holos. The more she read, the darker the shadows fell over her face.

It just didn’t add up. Over the course of the last five years, there hadn’t been a single case of missing people where absolutely nobody — no family, no friends, no neighbours — had noticed their absence.

There was always some worried relative or even just the damn fast food deliverer that had eventually reported a missing person.

But not in these two cases. Caitlyn browsed through the data chronology again. Both cases were from fourteen months ago, two weeks apart. The people were a man and a woman, both early thirties, with no spouses or children.

What had alerted the authorities to their disappearance had been their pets, coincidentally. A dog in the man’s case and a parrot in the woman’s case. The dog had been found barking in the apartment and the bird had flown over to the neighbours and blathered about his owner being on a vacation.

This had eventually led to the recording.

No witnesses, no disturbances in their apartments, not even an angry employer waiting for them to check in. They were just — gone.

Caitlyn rubbed at her temples. If only she could speak with the cyborg. The cubes they had confiscated in the lab had mentioned the name _Pyke_ multiple times over. They had subsequently decided to call the man thusly.

Problem was, they still had no clue who this man actually was; if Pyke was his real name, where he came from, why Viktor had been interested in him in the first place. Also, the body alterations…

Caitlyn sighed and glared at the holograms.

Precisely two hours later, there was a sudden commotion in the hallway. Through the windowpane to her office Caitlyn could see several people swiftly walking down the corridor and the Chief’s voice was prominent among all the chatter.

She rose and checked, only to find Chief Higgins standing right in the middle of the hallway, a hand scratching at the back of his neck, and six men in dark suits walking briskly through the doors towards the interior of the station.

“What’s going on?” she inquired.

The Chief turned and immediately threw his hands up, “There you’ve got your damn news about the damn case.”

Caitlyn frowned, “What is it then?”

He cleared his throat and motioned towards the men, “Apparently these lads are going to… relocate our suspect.”

“Relocate…? Wait a moment.”

Caitlyn was almost about to leave him standing there and chase after the men, when he once again put up his hands, “Slow down there, Detective. My office, now.”

She begrudgingly followed him in a repetition of earlier this morning.

“What is going on, Chief?”

Chief Higgins glared at her, “The Commissioner notified me that the suspect would be brought to another facility to monitor his condition. Those fellows are going to take care of that.”

“But they can’t be doing that, this is our case!”

He just raised his eyebrows at her, not gracing that with a reply.

“What, so the Commissioner just told you that and suddenly these blokes are here to take over?”

The Chief shook his head, “I told you, this is a serious matter. Don’t look so surprised.”

“Well I am surprised! This would be much—”

“That’s enough, Detective,” he interrupted her.

“Maybe you should have left the Council out of the equation.”

Caitlyn swallowed, “And let this whole thing slide? I don’t think so.”

Chief Higgins stood.

“And _I_ don’t think it matters much anyways,” he walked in front of his window with his hands worrying the windowsill, “What I think, is that they’re revising the case.”

Caitlyn’s eyes went wide, “Excuse me?”

The Chief didn’t respond, leaving Caitlyn to silently fume.

“Of course, because solving crime is only good if it’s convenient to them,” she muttered.

“Be careful, Caitlyn. You’re poking at a wasps nest there.”

Caitlyn wanted to heed his advise, but something in her refused to acquiesce. Chief Higgins turned back to her. His expression was still grim.

“I believe it’s best if we return to our duties, Detective. Like I said, some cases will never be solved. Not by us, at any rate. Let the higher-ups do their job and pick a new cube to solve.”

A vicious thought ran through her mind at the dismissal, but Caitlyn acknowledged her superior regardless and left his office. Her eyes wandered to the doors at the end of the hallway, where the “higher-ups” had ventured further into the station to undoubtedly collect Pyke, and she turned away with angry footfalls.

* * *

It was quiet in the station after the turbulence concerning the Viktor case. Pyke had been swiftly and efficiently removed from the station, as well as all remaining files and cubes regarding him.

A tall man clad in a dark suit had come into Caitlyn’s office a day after her discussion with the Chief and taken everything with him, leaving Caitlyn with nothing.

In her refusal to partake in this “transfer”, as the man had called it, she had not lifted a finger to help. It was enough to have him invading her workspace. She was at least satisfied that her watchful gaze had seemed to bother the man while he’d been packing up.

Her efforts of the last couple months having been for naught, Caitlyn sulked in her office and picked up on some of the desk work she had neglected in favour of the Viktor case.

It was a mere three days before her Chief actually visited her for a change.

He opted not to sit down in one of the offered chairs, but instead stood rather stiffly in front of Caitlyn. His unusual behaviour was putting her on edge, and so she too decided to stand.

“As much as I hate to bring this up again, it seems your incessant digging in the Viktor case is still creating quite a stir.”

Caitlyn’s interest was immediately peaked, though she didn’t show it. Her demeanour remained professional as she waited for an explanation.

Chief Higgins stroked his beard, “The Commissioner wants to see you.”

“What?”

“You heard that right, Detective. He wants to speak with you,” the Chief continued, “You and me both, to be exact. It appears there’s more to this than we— than _I_ originally thought.”

Caitlyn searched his face for something, some indicator that he was joking, or lying, or baiting her, but his face instead grew dark.

“Now, don’t get excited. He didn’t say anything else, just that he wants to speak to us.”

Caitlyn shook her head innocently, “I don’t know what you mean, Chief.”

“You can’t fool me, I’ve known you long enough,” he grunted, “Don’t let this be your funeral, Caitlyn.”

“I don’t intend to.”

He regarded her for another moment, then made to leave her office.

“Meeting’s tomorrow morning, six sharp,” he pointed at her, “And put on some decent clothes.”

When he was gone, Caitlyn felt a strange mix of both agitation and anticipation rising in her chest. The Chief was right though; this could either go sideways and she’d receive an earful from the very top of the food chain, or end with her being assigned to the case — full-time, no distractions.

It went without saying that she hoped it would be the latter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost done with what I like to call the “prelude”.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bear with me, this is the end of the beginning :)

At precisely six sharp the next morning, Caitlyn was seated in the hallway outside of the Commissioner’s office. Along with her was Chief Higgins, although he preferred to glare outside the window and watch the air traffic speed by.

“Are you nervous?” he asked.

“No.”

“Don’t be nervous. I’m sure we’ll be out of here within the hour.”

Caitlyn glanced at him. She didn’t comment on his jumpiness. They were both dressed to the T, in full service uniform with their respective ranks displayed proudly over their chests. She didn’t much enjoy it, but she understood the necessity; if she wanted to drive the point home and retake the case, she’d have to present herself as dedicated and proper.

Two security guards (clad in more dark suits, to no-one’s surprise) were positioned at the doors leading to and from the hallway. They wore stained glasses and didn’t move a muscle. Caitlyn preferred to keep them in her periphery even if she didn’t seriously believe they might attack her and the Chief at any given moment.

This was the Commissioner’s administration office, after all, and not some shady fight club.

As if on cue, the man posted before the actual office put a finger to his earpiece. He mumbled a confirmation and addressed the two guests a moment later.

“The Commissioner will see you now.”

Then he turned and opened the great wing doors leading inside. Caitlyn stood and waited for her Chief to take the lead. He threw her a glance before walking in.

The office was huge. It was more like a small foyer than a room, with a low staircase leading to the window façade at the eastern side of the office, and a seating area located in front of the Commissioner’s desk.

The Commissioner himself stood and met them halfway towards his workspace. He was a tall man, clad in a suit that was decorated with a multitude of medals and badges signalling his superior rank. His face was shaven, his eyes betrayed exhaustion. He looked like a man that had sat behind a desk for so long that he’d forgotten how it was to hit the pavement himself.

There was also a woman in the room, busying herself by another seating area further inside the room; blonde hair, also wearing a suit. This one, however, was completely devoid of any decoration. She didn’t acknowledge them. Caitlyn tensed, like an animal would before a potential threat.

_Maybe she’s the secretary,_ she thought mirthlessly.

“Chief Higgins, Detective Fitzwilliam. Good morning,” the Commissioner shook their hands and they both took note of how he didn’t introduce the woman standing a ways off, “Take a seat, please.”

_Maybe she isn’t,_ Caitlyn continued her former line of thought.

The Commissioner also seemed a little tense, but Caitlyn couldn’t say for sure since she’d never met the man before. She glanced sideways; maybe it was the woman that had them both so on edge.

Chief Higgins politely pulled out the chair for Caitlyn before sitting down himself. Caitlyn noticed the slightest sheen of sweat on his forehead, but she didn’t draw attention to it.

Between them on the table lay the data cube containing the Viktor case.

“I’ve reviewed the data you sent me, Chief Higgins. It appears we’re dealing with a large-scale human experiment. And Viktor is a highly dangerous individual as we already know from past dealings with him.”

The Commissioner apparently wasn’t one to beat around the bush.

Chief Higgins straightened, “What do you mean, as you already know?”

“The government is familiar with Viktor. He has been a thorn in our side for the better part of a decade now. Thus far it were only minor offences and never enough proof to have him stand trial. Until now.”

He nodded towards Caitlyn, “As the Detective has uncovered, Viktor is involved in something much bigger than what we originally assumed.”

Caitlyn and the Chief shared a look.

The woman by the guest table had accessed a cube and appeared to be reading intently, but Caitlyn wasn’t fooled; her attention was decidedly on the three of them discussing the whole dilemma.

There was something very off about this whole conversation, Caitlyn decided, but it was too early to say.

The Commissioner went on, “I’ve talked about this to the Mayor and we agreed to take matters into our own hands. You’ll be relieved of the case.”

Chief Higgins was obviously not pleased with this development. The muscles in his neck were tight, Caitlyn could see it in the line of his collar, and he shuffled forward on this chair.

“Sir, if I may speak—”

“There’s nothing to discuss, Chief Higgins. It has already been decided,” the Commissioner firmly interrupted him, “You are hereby formally notified of the following course of action.”

The Chief, looking thoroughly reprimanded, slowly sank back against the backrest. His jaw worked. Caitlyn had no doubt he was thinking the same thing as herself: Why exactly were they here?

“…Is there anything else we can help you with, then? Any additional information you need from us?”

At this, the Commissioner leant back and finally acknowledged the woman by the guest table, “I believe this is where the Agent wants to take over?”

_Agent?_ Caitlyn’s brain helpfully supplied.

“Detective Caitlyn Fitzwilliam,” the woman began as she leisurely swiped through the holograms from the cube that she’d now attached to her tech-tool, “I hear many good things about you.”

Caitlyn didn’t respond. The woman strolled towards them, completely unbothered, and looked at her. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. A second ticked by, then she closed the data packet and remained standing before the Commissioner’s desk as if she owned the thing.

She straightened, “I am Special Agent Markham. The Council sends me to supervise this meeting… and congratulate you.”

“Congratulate me?” Caitlyn asked and glanced at her Chief.

Chief Higgins frowned deeply and tried to make sense of the situation by seeking eye contact with the Commissioner, but the man simply regarded Markham. Caitlyn felt weirdly left out of the loop, and she now realised that her Chief was probably entirely irrelevant to this whole conversation.

“Correct,” the Agent confirmed, “Before we get to that, however, let’s briefly digress.”

She tapped the cube on the desk with a finger, “I’ve studied the file and your compilation of the cases is, quite frankly, impressive. I’d like you to explain how you figured all of this out, Detective.”

Caitlyn schooled her expression, even though she wanted to scowl hard at this woman. She wouldn’t; not with the eyes of her Chief and the Commissioner on her.

“The abductions were a simple matter, although the perpetrators became more careful over the years.”

She began to recount her entire investigation — leaving nothing out, but staying on course. How she had found evidence that some of the abductions were conducted in a very similar manner and how this suggested it was the same perpetrator in at least a few of the cases.

How all of these people’s social environments were secluded, yet they all seemed to have something in common: a distinct curiosity for body modifications and experience with installing them. However, that alone wasn’t enough reason to suspect these cases to be linked somehow.

But Caitlyn had also uncovered that all of these people had been approached by an anonymous person under the pseudonym of B.C., offering them fair prices for shady body mods that were definitely not sanctioned by any official authority.

Since she hadn’t found anything under the pseudonym however, Caitlyn had to presume he was a freelancer — and there were thousands of those strewn about the cluster, so it was no use trying to chase that lead.

The private databases of the victims had of course been analysed, but apparently a hidden protocol administered by this mysterious B.C. had wiped large segments of their systems — thus preventing the Wardens from finding anything suspicious.

Agent Markham narrowed her eyes but continued to listen intently.

“I must admit, I only found this connection by accident,” Caitlyn conceded.

Her eyes flicked to the Chief briefly, “I ran a second analysis in the Potter case, but asked an acquaintance outside of the force to do it. I was looking for something else, that I didn’t find, but the results yielded hidden files that had been automatically wiped from the system by a code leading back to this B.C. signature. This warranted a follow-up in the other cases as well.”

Chief Higgins’ nostrils flared, but he kept his mouth shut. In her official report she must have forgotten to mention that part with her outside friend… Caitlyn suspected the Chief would have words about this with her later.

She continued, telling Agent Markham that the victims had declined any services this B.C. had offered them — and soon after had been taken.

Caitlyn also made it a point to mention the two missing people cases, which had the Agent drop her gaze in confusion back onto the cube for a moment. They had also been approached by B.C., but had actually accepted the offer. Curiously enough, there had been no signs of a violent encounter in their living spaces whatsoever.

The more Caitlyn talked, the bolder she became. The Agent was patiently listening to everything she had said thus far, not interrupting her a single time, and that was enough for Caitlyn to realise that she was not only paying attention, but giving weight to her words.

Maybe it was a bait to lure Caitlyn into openly committing treason, but Caitlyn had already discarded that inane idea the moment it had come up in her head. This ruse was too elaborate to be a simple means of disposing of her. A car accident would have been far more efficient.

The whole thing was aggravating nonetheless, because Caitlyn couldn’t understand why she was sitting here in the first place. They had her data packet, they knew what her thoughts had been — why have her sit here and recite it all over again then?

It was enough for Caitlyn to decide to issue a challenge, “And now here we are.”

Agent Markham was a very patient woman indeed, Caitlyn noted. The Chief had been swallowing against a dry throat at least a dozen times since she had started her report. His discomfort was agitating to Caitlyn, but nobody acknowledged him.

“You haven’t explained why you think the Council is involved, Detective.”

It was spoken softly and confidently, but to Caitlyn it sounded like the guillotine hitting the log. She gritted her teeth before taking a deep breath.

“The body alterations.”

Agent Markham raised her chin in acknowledgement, patiently waiting for Caitlyn to elaborate.

“Both the fact that augmentations to such an extent are incredibly advanced — aside from being just borderline fringe — and that the scientists I found in the lab had access to them do raise some questions.”

Chief Higgins finally lowered his head and wiped a flat hand across his face.

Caitlyn continued, undeterred, “Body modifications and bio hacking aren’t exactly news, but the product choice is heavily policed — even directed — by the Council. They are the only institution capable of advancing enhancements to the point of weaponising them.”

She looked pointedly to the cube on the desk, “The weapon used by the suspect is made of silicon-carbide — which is legally restricted to be used only in Council-sanctioned operations.”

The room had gone utterly silent by now. Agent Markham regarded her with a cool expression, but the slight twitch of her mouth gave her away.

There was a beat, and then the Agent looked almost pleased, “Very well inferred, Detective.”

The two regarded one another — Agent Markham with a sense of scrutiny, Caitlyn with a sort of begrudged respect — when the woman decided to let Caitlyn off the hook.

“Now, to the actual reason of my being here today.”

The Agent stepped closer to Caitlyn and pulled a small and silky black box out of the pocket of her pants, which she offered Caitlyn.

“You are being promoted,” Special Agent Markham continued.

Caitlyn held the box in her hand. She was still reeling, the tension in her body coiled up. She couldn’t even fathom her anxiety to open the box and peer inside — to get to the bottom of all of this.

“What is the meaning of this, sir?” the Chief demanded, having been roused from his state of desperation.

He had risen from his chair, his breath heaving.

The Commissioner waved a hand, “Chief Higgins, what follows now doesn’t concern you. Please wait outside until our business is concluded.”

The Chief spluttered, but soon two gentlemen in dark suits appeared by his side and civilly escorted him outside. Agent Markham waited until the doors were closed behind him before she spoke again.

“I’m sure this is quite the surprise for you,” she walked back to her briefcase and produced a few things, among them a cube with a new employment contract and what was unquestionably a non-disclosure agreement, “The Council has been monitoring your work for a while now and we are exceptionally pleased with your performance.”

She motioned towards the new contract glowing on the interface, “We formally invite you into the ranks of the SAC — the Special Agency of the Council.”

Caitlyn felt her jaw going slack. Agent Markham was still superficially smiling, and the Commissioner was looking at her with an expectant glint in his eyes.

She looked down. Now there was no doubt to what was going on. Caitlyn opened the box.

Inside lay a small but shiny piece of metal on a silky cushion; a brand new badge with her initials on it, showcasing the mark of the Council itself.

Agent Markham waited for Caitlyn to gather her wits and regard her once more — an undoubtedly practised move — before the smile she sported finally floated to her eyes, “Welcome to the Agency, Detective.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yawn.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some more set-up and then it’ll be right into the fray…
> 
> Heads-up: Vi is trans!

Chief Higgins had been right; they _had_ been out of there within the hour.

The rest of the meeting had gone by in a blur. Caitlyn had signed the contract and NDA and promptly received a notice to her email about a whole batch of upgrades to her set of tactical gear and an updated database now including several top-secret contacts waiting for her in her new office.

Oh, and her upgraded salary.

Special Agent Markham had also notified her of her new duties and that she would be assigned specifically to the Viktor case. There were only a handful of other Agents involved with this and Markham had made it a point to ensure that Caitlyn was aware just how precarious this investigation was.

Turned out the Council had been trying to bring Viktor in for the better part of ten years now, but thus far to no avail. The Agent had then proceeded to explain to her that the tech that Caitlyn had found in the laboratory — implemented on the man named Pyke — had indeed originally been developed and sanctioned by the Council.

Viktor had stolen it and several other samples of tech. And now he was apparently using it to experiment on humans. Caitlyn was to find the tech and bring Viktor in. To do so, she had been provided with information about another laboratory.

Early the next morning saw Caitlyn roaming the fourth floor of a completely regular looking, multi-storey building on the outskirts of Piltover’s city centre. If not for the identification scan and security measures right behind the entrance door, Caitlyn would have thought it to be just another tower block.

She’d never known that the Agency had a branch office here. It wasn’t even that far away from the station; if she wanted, she could drive over and have lunch in her favourite snack bar. Apparently the entire building was leasehold property of the Council — and a single, huge high security area.

Caitlyn found her office — already with a name tag floating in holographic letters by the door —, unlocked it and turned on the lights. The first thing she noted was that it looked exactly like the offices in the station. The same table and chairs, the same cabinet by the wall.

The only difference was the private locker built into the wall by the door. In the station they’d had a locker room where every Warden could store their gear. The Agency apparently had the luxury of equipping each office with their own, Caitlyn noted with a pleased smile.

Her eyes fell to her desk. Already a cube was waiting for her; no doubt containing whatever additional information the SAC was able to provide Caitlyn with. Her own compiled data packet laid next to that.

She set the box containing her personal things from her old office down and began to unpack.

After having taken the time to get acquainted with her new surroundings, Caitlyn had taken a small tour around the premises. It was a lot quieter here and there were fewer people about. Most of the offices were locked, but she took her time reading and internalising the name tags as best as she could.

Almost all of the people were Agents themselves. Caitlyn guessed that they conducted their own investigations and weren’t present because of that. She hadn’t exactly expected a fanfare, but the utter lack of a reception was a bit bewildering.

Having sufficiently scouted out the common room and the washroom, Caitlyn returned to her office — only to find Agent Markham already waiting for her.

The woman nodded to her in greeting and motioned for Caitlyn to come inside. The Agent was, again, in a suit that didn’t indicate anything about her person.

“No need to be shy, Detective, this is _your_ office after all. I came here to see how you’re settling in.”

Somehow, Caitlyn couldn’t quite believe that. But she played along.

“It’s definitely another ambience. The carpet smells different, too.”

The Agent actually smirked at that.

“Excuse the lack of a warm welcome; the Agency is always busy. But you’ll meet your new colleagues soon enough.”

She stepped closer to the desk and sent Caitlyn a data packet directly to her tech-tool, “As promised, the location of another laboratory that we’ve tracked down. We have reason to believe that there will be at least one victim confined within.”

Caitlyn skimmed over the data, “In Zaun this time?”

Agent Markham nodded, “Correct. Viktor is clever; he has erected a multitude of laboratories and is forcing a whole lot of people to work on his… _projects._ It’s most likely these people have no idea that there are others, and that he’s keeping them in the dark.”

“Right,” Caitlyn added, “So that his smart people don’t know what they’re actually working on.”

The Agent inclined her head.

“The lab is located in a busy sector of the city. We don’t want any bystanders of course, so try to keep a low profile.”

Caitlyn nodded and accessed the charts to take a closer look at the location. It was right in the middle of the industrial district, which would be frequented by people twenty-four-seven.

_Fantastic._

“There’s something else,” Agent Markham said as she walked over to the window.

Caitlyn’s eyes followed her every movement. If she hadn’t been on alert already, she was now.

“Something that has no place in a dossier or in official correspondences.”

The Agent turned to fix Caitlyn with a stare, “It is absolutely imperative that you bring in the victims _alive._ At all costs.”

Caitlyn crossed her arms, “And why wouldn’t I do that in the first place?”

Agent Markham graced her with a polite smile, “I realise that sometimes violence is necessary to accomplish the mission. However, these people might have invaluable information about Viktor’s whereabouts.”

“And you want to get your tech back,” Caitlyn deadpanned.

A chuckle, “And that, Detective.”

Agent Markham’s face once again became expressionless, “The augmentations need to be removed and returned to the Council. Since we don’t know yet how… invasive Viktor has been in his work, we have composed a team of brilliant scientists and surgeons that will remove them — with the intention of saving the victims’ lives in the process.”

Caitlyn searched her eyes, trying to determine just how much she really cared about the victims, but the Agent was adept at masks.

She continued, “You will be provided with everything you need to complete this mission in a non-lethal way.”

“What about the scientists? Viktor’s henchmen?”

Agent Markham pursed her lips, “Do try to keep the other casualties as low as possible.”

_But kill them if you must,_ Caitlyn finished the thought for her.

This didn’t sit well with Caitlyn. When she’d accepted the job, she hadn’t really thought about just how much her new objectives would differ from what she was used to. She’d only seen a way to get to Viktor. But special forces had special priorities. Caitlyn scolded herself for her oversight.

As if reading her mind, Agent Markham amended her former statement, “There’s one thing you need to remind yourself of. We’re here to save lives, not condemn those that are simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She made to leave, “This is where you’re supposed to be, Agent Fitzwilliam. You’ll come to see that in time.”

Caitlyn’s back straightened, but her eyes burned with veiled anger. This woman was getting under her skin.

After a cup of tea to soothe her nerves, Caitlyn had planned for a time and a route through the busy sector and checked her gear. It was time to get going.

* * *

The late afternoon saw Caitlyn in a Zaunite carriage with at least a dozen other people. The vehicle was headed for the industrial sector to cart in a fresh group of workers and take those whose shifts were now over into the city.

Caitlyn’s eyes drifted over them; the men and women aboard were all poor. Some had holes in their work suits, others carried dented helmets under their arms, all of them wore dirty clothes. She imagined she must have stuck out like a sore thumb with her clean coat and sturdy shoes.

Caitlyn was relieved when they could finally exit the carriage and she quickly stepped away from the crowd that had gathered on the square. Nobody followed her.

She made sure it remained that way and then blinked to activate her oculars. A thin electrical veil fell over her eyes and her surroundings lit up on the HUD as they were being scanned. She rather liked the tech upgrade she had received with her promotion.

Several visuals indicated the location of the building in which she’d find the lab as well as the route towards it that she had planned back in her office. It was too early however, as she noted with a quick glance towards the horizon.

Sol Prime, the sun that Valoran was orbiting, was still visible over the urban landscape and tinted everything in warm amber. There had been another sun once, but it had already imploded a long time ago.

Caitlyn decided to remain inconspicuous and stood off to the side of the buzzing square. She downloaded the latest bulletin and held her arm up to hide her face behind the news, pretending to be reading intently. It was a cheap trick, but it was usually working.

The workers around her paid her no mind. The minutes ticked by slowly, but soon enough Sol Prime had finally set and the area was illuminated only by the glow from the city and a few sparse floodlights.

Caitlyn deleted the bulletin from her tech-tool and moved out.

She avoided the more lively streets and stuck to the shadows as she walked closer to her target. The building in question looked like any other in the area, but it had a distinct solar dome for a roof. Several workers were currently standing by the floodlight in front of the entrance. They were smoking and talking.

Caitlyn reached for her rifle and stalked around the building. Agent Markham had told her of a possible access point at the backside. Caitlyn scanned her surroundings and quickly noticed what the Agent had meant: Multiple pipelines leading a ways off and then vanishing into the ground.

Hot steam was escaping through a vent and Caitlyn quirked an eyebrow at the blatant disregard of safety precautions. Between the pipes was another door, this one completely unattended.

With a few swift motions on her tech-tool, she disabled any alarms and sneaked in.

It was warm inside and Caitlyn already felt sweat prickle at her skin. She found herself in a small room filled floor-to-ceiling with lab equipment and probing machinery; unused glass tanks and metre-long cables and discarded tubes.

_Looks like Professor Heimerdinger’s workspace,_ she mused.

A door in front of her led into the main room. Caitlyn quietly opened it and spied around the perimeter. The lights were turned on, but there was no-one in her immediate vicinity.

She snuck out of the side room and hid behind a massive contraption fixating a giant tank. Caitlyn’s mouth ran dry as she studied the humanoid figure within, the body crippled and motionless. She couldn’t see the face and was almost thankful for that.

The liquid was still and the machinery attached to the tank seemed to be turned off. Four more of these tanks were placed along the walls; all of which contained bodies, all of which were turned off.

Caitlyn gripped her rifle and frowned.

There was a sixth tank located atop a slightly elevated platform in the middle of the laboratory. This one was plugged in, small holo displays and blinking lights dancing on the glass surface. A woman was inside the tank.

Only now did Caitlyn notice that something was different about these victims. Where Pyke had been hairless and bereft of his most prized possession, these bodies had hair growth.

Caitlyn’s eyes immediately fell to the space between the woman’s legs, only to find that there was indeed something there. Her eyes rolled back into her skull almost violently and a blush rose to her cheeks.

_Okay, yes, that’s— that’s a cock,_ her brain concluded.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Caitlyn redirected her attention to the surroundings. There was no-one around, but Caitlyn knew it was only a matter of time until someone would show up. Two tables had been pulled close to the tank and lying on a chair was a batch of fresh clothes and sanitary utensils.

Knowing they would never leave this woman here alone and completely unguarded, Caitlyn realised that this was her best chance to get the job done and avoid any bloodshed. But she needed to be quick.

Caitlyn licked her lips, then crept closer. She placed a singularity trap right in the middle of the workspace and, with the press of a button, cloaked it so it would remain unseen until triggering.

She kept her head ducked and when she was satisfied that there was truly no-one nearby, she moved on and knelt down in front of the console operating the tank.

Her oculars began scanning the device. A few nerve-wrecking seconds ticked by, then she had the interface figured out and began issuing commands via her tech-tool.

“Confirmed. Initialise draining protocol.”

A sharp hiss indicated equalisation of pressure and the tank was slowly drained. Much to Caitlyn’s chagrin, the virtual intelligence decided to narrate the entire process to her, in a volume that was decidedly too loud.

The vast space within the building carried the sound of both the VI and the actual procedure and Caitlyn felt like standing next to an operating jackhammer would have been preferable right now.

She took cover and prepared her rifle while several clicks signalled the release of the tubes that had been shackling the woman. The clasps rotated and set her free.

“Disengage interlock.”

They clanked loudly against the tube. The woman herself slowly sunk to the bottom of the tank, still unconscious. Caitlyn couldn’t see any movement, but her oculars confirmed that she was alive. That, and hopefully a bit more civilised than the gentleman she had freed in the last lab.

Suddenly, there was noise coming from behind her. Caitlyn spun around, her heart rate picked up.

The main door opened.

“What the hell is going on in here? Didn’t I tell you to lock the interface?”

In through an air lock came the workers she had seen smoking outside. They were confused for a moment, then they spotted her and went wide-eyed.

Caitlyn raised her weapon, “ _Freeze!_ ”

Instead of turning hostile, however, the men immediately turned around from whence they came and fled. An exasperated sigh left her, but Caitlyn refrained from giving chase. These men were, as Agent Markham had made clear, not her priority.

She disengaged her plasma blaster and turned around — only to find that the woman was gone.

She tensed, whirling around, and found the woman slowly walking backwards to the door leading into the side room.

“Hold it!” Caitlyn called out, which actually had her stopping dead in her tracks.

She swallowed as her thoughts briefly returned to when she’d first spotted the woman in the tank. But luckily for her and her sanity, the woman had had the foresight to grab both the undershirt and a pair of pants from the chair and throw them on before trying to make a run for it.

Stark blue eyes were glued to Caitlyn’s every movement from underneath a shock of white hair. They were alert and keen and Caitlyn saw an intelligent spark within them.

It caught her off-guard.

She instantly determined that this person was completely different from Pyke. The silence stretched between them and it gave Caitlyn a moment to take the woman in front of her in.

She studied her tattoos. An intricate mechanism of some kind was inked into her left upper arm. The bronze colours formed into cogs of different sizes, interlinked to paint a tapestry of machinery onto her skin. Caitlyn imagined it looked like the innards of an ancient device.

Her eyes drifted higher. Another, single cogwheel was tattooed onto the side of the woman’s neck. And on her face, she wore a third tattoo — two simple numerals that, Caitlyn’s mind reeled, had a number of meanings too vast for her to process right then.

VI.

“Who are you…”

“Who’s asking?” the woman immediately growled back, her voice was hoarse from disuse.

Caitlyn snapped out of it. The woman was still standing there, sopping wet, with her body lowered into a fighting stance. Caitlyn saw the blood on her knuckles and aimed her rifle at her.

The woman immediately raised her fists and shielded her face, as if that might be a better idea than to run for her life. She looked poised to fight.

Caitlyn slowly went down the stairs towards her, but didn’t yet close the distance. She had the woman in the crosshairs and they both knew she wouldn’t be able to run anywhere before Caitlyn had pulled the trigger.

Then again, Caitlyn remembered with a bad taste in her mouth, Pyke had also been shot by her and it hadn’t done anything but anger him.

Well, there were no synthetic orifices, no metal plates, no tubes sticking out of the woman’s body. The only thing Caitlyn could see were cybernetic scars across her jaw and cheeks, and she had seen the sockets lining her spine where she’d been shackled to the tank.

_That means no hidden weapons, right?_

They circled one another carefully, both on high alert, and Caitlyn felt a rush. The last person to seek confrontation with her instead of running had taken a bullet straight to the head. It had been messy and she’d gotten her ear talked off by her Chief, but it had been necessary at the time.

The man she’d apprehended had almost been faster in pulling the trigger on her instead. He had been armed and terrified and he had shot a suspect dead before the hearing; hence the chase.

The woman before her however, was fearless.

She was wild and frantic, yes, but Caitlyn could see that she had no fear of her or the barrel clearly trained on her forehead.

Caitlyn felt a rock in her stomach.

Then, in a crazy notion, she lowered her weapon. The woman stopped, distraught.

_I must be mad,_ the thought rang through Caitlyn’s head.

“I’m not here to hurt you.”

Intense eyes searched her face for a clue; the woman was expecting a trap. Caitlyn slowly put her rifle on the ground and then raised her hands.

“I want to help you.”

She remained motionless for a long time before the woman finally reacted. Not giving Caitlyn a second glance, she turned and started running towards the exit.

Caitlyn’s lips thinned, then she activated her singularity trap.

A piercing beep echoed through the room and the trap sprung — a gravity field momentarily expanded in a large radius around the trap, catching everything within. The woman froze in mid-step, forced into a stasis, and the light in her eyes died as she realised that she had, indeed, been baited.

Caitlyn picked up her rifle and advanced on her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! If you’ve made it this far, I’m really glad!
> 
> Have some more info: I told you in my notes to Chapter 01 that this story will address body issues. But don’t worry — the issues will be about what had been done to Vi’s body during experimentation, not about her being trans.
> 
> That’s simply because being trans isn’t an issue in the first place, as we all (should) know.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just watched an Évelyne Brochu interview montage. This woman is an angel.
> 
> Also, Orphan Black is my favourite series of all time so I’m stealing names from it ♥

It was late in the night when Caitlyn finally flopped into her chair in the office. She kicked one leg up on the desk and leant back with a groan.

In the reflection of her window, she could see herself — pressing an icepack to her eye.

_That’s gonna be a shiner tomorrow._

The voices in the hallway were growing distant and Caitlyn was glad she had some time to herself. After having coordinated the whole wrap-up and earned a black eye from her new, freshly out-of-stasis friend for all her trouble, she only wanted to go home and sleep.

A polite knock had her glaring over at the door and she took her boot off the desk, “Yes?”

Agent Markham walked in. When she saw Caitlyn glowering and tending to herself, she raised a curious eyebrow.

“Don’t ask.”

She really wasn’t in the mood right now.

The Agent shrugged, “I wasn’t going to. I came here to deliver praise.”

She positioned herself strategically in front of Caitlyn’s desk and formally clasped her hands behind her back. Caitlyn noted with slight irritation that the good Agent looked just like she did the last time they’d spoken — cool and composed, without a hair out of place.

“The Council is pleased with the outcome of your mission. Another piece of tech, safe and secure,” she smiled without candour.

The Agent produced a small cube from the breast pocket of her suit, “I’m afraid I hadn’t had the time to give this to you earlier, but the Council has authorised a requisition for you.”

Caitlyn finally sat up and took the icepack from her face, “I didn’t requisition anything.”

“I know. I did it for you,” the Agent explained and handed her the cube, “You are now cleared for use of Council-only sanctioned weaponry. This also allows you entry into the arsenal and access to the combat simulator. You can find both in the basement.”

 _Lovely,_ the icepack went back to Caitlyn’s eye.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Agent Markham said.

She was about to bid Caitlyn a good night and leave, when Caitlyn stopped her.

“What about the woman? Where can I find her so that I might talk to her?”

“ _Ah,_ ” the Agent glanced at her shoes in a way that irked Caitlyn, “Don’t worry about that, Agent. She is currently in the care of our security personnel.”

Caitlyn sat up straight, “What? Why?”

“She is… very lively. In good condition even, according to the physicians. However, we can’t have her running amok in our facilities. She is angry and confused and we want to let her cool off before we’ll begin extracting information from her.”

“Extract information? You said—”

Agent Markham blocked any objection before Caitlyn could even start, “We have experts that take care of things like that. You should go home and rest up. I’ll let you know when I have news for you.”

She used a tone that allowed no argument. Caitlyn made an effort to stay professional, but she couldn’t simply accept this.

“You said this was _my_ case. The woman is my responsibility, _I_ should be the one to talk to her.”

Agent Markham regarded Caitlyn with narrowed eyes and it was a replay of when they’d been in the Commissioner’s office to review her case. Eventually, the Agent clicked her tongue.

“You forget your place, it seems. I’m your superior, I give the orders. And you answer to me.”

Agent Markham’s face was stone, but then she softened somewhat.

“But, as a gesture of good faith I’m willing to oblige you. You will talk to her tomorrow and we’ll see where it leads. Make it count, Agent Fitzwilliam.”

She left the office and Caitlyn to her own devices.

* * *

Caitlyn showed up in the office early the next morning. She was eager to speak to the woman and finally get some insight into Viktor’s scheming.

To her surprise, the office was buzzing with people.

She had crossed at least two faces she’d never seen before in the hallway and they had greeted and smiled at her, even calling her by name. She hadn’t been able to extend the same courtesy to them, but Caitlyn vowed to browse the network database and be better prepared next time she ran into them.

But first things first. She needed coffee.

The common room was smaller than the one in the station, but there were plenty of seating opportunities. A kitchen unit was fitted along the northern wall, equipped with a microwave, several shelves for tableware and a dishwasher.

On the counter stood a water kettle and the coffee maker.

Two men were mingling next to a table and chatting amicably. They looked up when she entered. Feeling a slight sense of dread in her stomach, Caitlyn bravely steered towards them.

When they turned in her direction, she noticed just how beefy the two were — both of them were at least two heads taller than her and their jackets stretched over their shoulders. They grinned, but it was the friendly kind.

“You’re the new one, right? Nice to meet you,” one of them held out his hand, “I’m Trundle, that’s Volibear. We’re with the security here.”

Caitlyn introduced herself to them and they nodded enthusiastically. The tension left her and she was glad that the first impression seemed to have been a success. When she mentioned that she looked forward to be seeing them around the office, they positively beamed at her.

Unfortunately the good mood changed suddenly when another man entered the room. Piercing yellow oculars studied Caitlyn from head to toe and a sly smirk had her on her guard. The man wore a bowler hat and a ridiculous moustache paired with a goatee.

He tipped his hat, “Mornin’, ladies,” and walked past them to the coffee maker.

“ _Tobias,_ ” Volibear snarled.

Caitlyn felt the temperature drop, but she didn’t comment on it. Judging by his coat and the fancy hat, she suspected he was another Agent. One that her new friends didn’t like, apparently.

Tobias started the machine and poured himself a freshly produced cup, then he turned and approached the three. With a flourish and a bow he glanced up at Caitlyn.

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss Fitzwilliam. The name’s Tobias, as these gentlemen already mentioned, but you can call me _Fate._ ”

He winked at her and Caitlyn couldn’t keep an annoyed twitch out of her smile, “Likewise.”

He didn’t attempt to shake her hand but instead looked at Trundle and Volibear, “Shouldn’t you lads be patrollin’ the hallways or something?”

The two men grumbled deeply, but made no indication to leave. Fate’s eyes locked on Caitlyn once more, then he left the room. Only when Volibear received a message to his pager did they excuse themselves, briefly squeezing Caitlyn’s shoulder.

Left alone in the common room, Caitlyn exhaled and tried to process. She was busying herself with the coffee maker when someone else stepped up to her. It was so quietly done that Caitlyn’s first instinct was to lash out and knock them down, but she managed to rein herself in before that could happen.

A white-haired woman stood next to her.

She placed a mug on the counter and started to boil some water, “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

Caitlyn blinked, “No problem.”

“I’m Riven. You’re the new Agent. Fitzwilliam, right?”

“Caitlyn is fine,” she said.

She hadn’t even heard anyone enter the room, much less get so close to her.

Riven nodded, “Don’t worry about Fate. He’s like that with everyone.”

She stopped for a moment and then corrected herself, “Well. With the women.”

Caitlyn’s eyes crinkled in sympathy. Oh, how she adored people like that.

“Yes. Nice fellow.”

Riven’s cheek twitched in return, “Just don’t let him get under your skin.”

Caitlyn turned to Riven and took a sip from her coffee, “It seems news travel fast in the Agency. I’m here barely twenty-four hours and already everyone seems to know who I am.”

Riven looked at her and motioned towards her own face, “Well, we all heard about the black eye.”

_Oh._

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Caitlyn’s fingers itched to touch her bruised skin, but she stopped herself. Instead, she grinned lightly.

“I see. Should have expected that.”

Riven was smaller than her, but not by much. And she also seemed muscular, but her bad posture diminished the effect slightly.

“See you around, Caitlyn,” Riven waved and left as quietly as she had entered.

Caitlyn grunted an affirmative and waited until Riven was gone before she also left.

Riven seemed nice. She was quiet, but there had been no malice in her words. And her white hair reminded Caitlyn of the woman from the laboratory — whom she intended to see today.

But before that, she decided to pay the weapons depot a quick visit. Agent Markham had gone to all the trouble to clear her for the sensitive areas, after all. And, Caitlyn had to admit, she was curious what kind of weapons the Agency stored in the basement.

The lift transported her five storeys down. Immediately beyond the doors was a security hatch. Trundle waved at her and, after she flashed her credentials, let her pass.

The hallway only led to a few different rooms and Caitlyn could see that some of them were occupied, according to the bright red lights above the door hatches. These were the training simulators, as Trundle had told her.

Only two of them were currently free and Caitlyn dared a peek inside. It was a square room with a high ceiling. The walls were stark black and reflective — a single, huge screen. Very fine glowing elements were inbuilt into them. These were the holographic replicators that allowed a trainee full immersion into a virtual reality in which they could exercise in literally any way they saw fit.

Caitlyn smiled with excitement.

_Oh, I’m definitely going to give them a test ride._

The arsenal was just behind the combat sim rooms. Joyful whistling reached Caitlyn’s ears before she even set a foot inside.

A young man was currently busy at a long table that was packed with weapons. He had a cloth in his hand and was polishing a small gun. His foot tapped a rhythm on the ground that Caitlyn couldn’t identify.

She cleared her throat.

The man turned, “Oh, hi!”

He only needed one look at her to recognise her — thanks again to the souvenir on her face —, and he put the gun and rag away with a friendly smile.

“Agent Fitzwilliam, right? I’m Ramon, the weapons quartermaster. Hi.”

He shook her hand. His palms were just a bit sweaty and Caitlyn couldn’t help but think he looked like a freshman.

“Ramon, pleasure. You can call me Caitlyn.”

He nodded a few times, “Ok, cool. Uh, you wanna… check out the guns?”

Eager to show off to the new one, Ramon produced a multitude of positively marvellous firearms for Caitlyn that had her revelling. She would never openly admit it, but she was kind of a nerd about guns — the bigger, the better.

Her father had been the one to introduce her to hunting and the world beyond the scope.

After what turned out to be much longer time dallying with Ramon in the arsenal, she excused herself, stating she still had actual work to do.

Ramon smiled widely at her, “Yeah, sure. I have to clean up here too, but drop by anytime.”

He jerked a thumb behind him to indicate the table now loaded with even more weapons than before. Caitlyn almost felt a bit guilty. Almost.

“Have a good one, Caitlyn!”

Caitlyn went back to her office and her thoughts returned to the task at hand — the Viktor case. She began compiling a cube in preparation for the questioning, her mind occupied by the woman from the laboratory.

She checked on herself and her black eye in the mirror before she eventually made for the detention cells.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I needed to introduce some peeps to make the Agency not look like a barren wasteland.
> 
> Those coffee machines and water kettles are high-tech by the way, so it doesn’t take longer than barely a few seconds until your beverage of choice is done. Nifty!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rejoice, the time has come.

The detention cells were also located in the basement, just one storey below the arsenal. Caitlyn passed a good dozen of armed guards in the hallways and was eventually guided through a security transit, operated by Volibear. He shot her a friendly smile and briefly checked her person before letting her in.

The absence of any and all decorative material on the walls or the doors wasn’t anything unusual for the detention unit, but Caitlyn noted that the smell in here was different. Where the air in the station had oftentimes reeked of the arrestees and whatever drink or drug they had consumed before their arrival, the smell in the air here was sterile. It was _too clean._

At a second transit, Caitlyn stated her business and was surprised when they told her that preparations had already been made. She didn’t inquire, for she already knew who was responsible for this.

Caitlyn wasn’t sure how she felt about that though.

She was escorted to an interrogation chamber. In the adjacent room was a young man waiting for her. He stood from his chair and politely greeted her.

“Good morning, Agent. I’m Collin. I’m here to monitor the interrogation and make sure the tech is working as intended. This is my booth.”

He motioned towards the holo screens and equipment with a small smile. Caitlyn studied him; he was older than Ramon, but probably still too young to be of any importance or have any say.

“Agent Markham sent you,” she stated.

“Yes. She said I was to assist you in any way you deem necessary.”

Caitlyn hummed and he grew slightly uncomfortable under her prolonged stare.

“Alright,” Caitlyn said, “Then get ready. We’ll begin immediately.”

Collin nodded enthusiastically and set to work. Barely two minutes later, the door to the interrogation chamber opened and in came the woman from the day before.

She was cuffed and flanked by two guards that sat her on one of the chairs in the room. Caitlyn swallowed and took a breath.

The door hatch opened with a hiss and Caitlyn stepped into the chamber. In the middle of the room stood a simple standard-issue table and two metal chairs — one for Caitlyn, one for whomever sat across from her.

The woman occupying said chair sat slumped and with her head lowered. White hair fell into her face and Caitlyn noted how it was longer at the back. Caitlyn sat down opposite of her.

When the woman looked up, Caitlyn felt her breath catch. Her eyes were blue, but she already knew that. She also knew how intense they were and that the woman seemed a fighter by nature.

Caitlyn had prepared herself in her office and taken some time in the room behind the mirror to silently rehearse her approach to this conversation once more. Yet all of her preparation seemed to fail her, now, that she was face to face with the woman.

Caitlyn admired her strength.

And then, she saw a smirk.

“Gotcha good, eh?”

Caitlyn’s mouth twitched in annoyance, but she made no move to hide the black eye. Instead, she entwined her fingers and leant forward on the table, face blank.

“I’m Caitlyn. I’m a Detective with the Wardens. We’re trying to gain some insight in what was done to you in that laboratory.”

She waited a second to see if the woman wanted to say anything to that, but she simply watched Caitlyn.

She continued, “What is your name?”

The woman made a face and leant back. She didn’t answer.

Caitlyn waited for a while, looking right back at her, but nothing was forthcoming. She eventually reached for the small cube she had brought and placed it in the middle of the table, activating it.

A series of holographic pictures opened, showing the laboratory and the tank the woman had been held in. Caitlyn watched her intently and saw the muscles in her jaw flex.

A reaction, at least. But still, the woman was silent.

“Do you know why you were held in that tank?”

The woman shuffled slightly on the chair. She blinked slowly, but again, offered nothing more.

“Do you remember anything that happened?”

It went on and on like this, with zero insight. Caitlyn felt her agitation flaring, but realised that it wasn’t because of the lack of cooperation. No, it was because while this woman wouldn’t share anything with Caitlyn, she seemed to completely have her wits about her.

Pyke, the physicians had notified her, had had a few rare instances where he would wake from his unconsciousness. He would scream and shout, but incoherently — nothing but gibberish and incomplete fragments of memories — and then he would succumb to fitful slumber again.

This woman was her best shot, and Caitlyn needed to get her to work with them.

She straightened and tried to be reasonable, “I told you I’m here to help. But I need you to tell me what you know, so that we can start somewhere.”

The woman’s eyes went around the chamber at this, looking in all corners, until they landed squarely back on Caitlyn. She pointedly rattled with the cuffs shackling her to the metal bar mounted on the table.

“Yea,” she mocked, “They all want to _help_ me.”

She turned her face away and Caitlyn couldn’t be sure but she swore there were tears glistening in her eyes. A dark, curling pit formed in her stomach.

“Alright,” she quietly mumbled.

She shook her head and then tried to catch the woman’s eyes carefully, “Can you at least tell me your name? Please?”

The woman glanced at her, then she slowly raised a hand and traced the pad of her finger along her cheek. Caitlyn followed the movement.

VI.

The numerals weren’t numerals.

The woman turned away again. Caitlyn nodded and quietly thanked her. Then she grabbed the cube and left the interrogation chamber.

Back in the side room, Collin was waiting for her. He looked at her and took out his ear-piece.

“Well that was unhelpful.”

He probably hadn’t meant for it to sound like a rebuke, but Caitlyn couldn’t help but be a bit vexed. She plunked the cube on the table and crossed her arms.

“She’s wary. She doesn’t know us, doesn’t know where she is or why she’s here.”

Collin waited for more, but nothing came; Caitlyn simply regarded the woman thoughtfully through the mirror. He cleared his throat.

“So what now?”

Caitlyn hummed and put a hand to her chin.

“How has she been treated?”

“Pardon?”

“How have the guards and the physicians been to her thus far? Have they treated her like a convict?”

Collin frowned and Caitlyn grew a bit impatient.

“I want to know if they’ve been accommodating to her, Collin.”

Collin turned back to the desk and accessed a data packet from one of the smaller cubes surrounding his working station.

“I, uh, don’t know, to be honest. They haven’t said anything to me, I’m just here to…” he trailed off and motioned towards the chamber.

Caitlyn scratched the back of her neck. She’d feared they might have handled her like a prisoner instead of a person who just got out of a traumatising situation.

_Some experts,_ she thought disgruntled.

“Have her brought back to… the cell, wherever you’re holding her. I need to think.”

With that, Caitlyn swiftly left the room. Collin called after her, but she ignored him. She needed to get this done before Agent Markham would interfere again.

_I need to know what’s going on._

Back in her office, Caitlyn locked the door behind her and sat down on the desk. She fired up her tech-tool and revisited her notes, intent on working out a new approach to get to this woman.

A way to get to Vi.

* * *

Caitlyn had scheduled a second conversation with Vi for the following day and sent Collin a notice and a request to relay the information to the woman. It was purely courtesy — and quite unorthodox —, but Caitlyn was set on not making the mistake of going wrong about this again.

To her great horror, the conversation was already well underway when she arrived. She stepped up close next to Collin who shrunk into his chair and tried not to meet her severe gaze.

“What’s going on here?”

“I… um…”

“ _Collin?_ ” she prompted sharply.

Collin stuttered, “A-Agent Markham contacted me this morning. She said to prepare for a second interrogation. I sent you a notice; didn’t you read it?”

Caitlyn fired up her tech-tool and, indeed, found a notice in her inbox. She growled and let her arm sink.

“Bollocks.”

“You’re… not supposed to be here,” Collin warily mentioned.

Caitlyn gritted her teeth. To say she was displeased was an understatement. Of course Agent Markham would have instructed Collin to send her away or something.

But luckily for her, he didn’t have the nerve. The young man felt the anger rolling off Caitlyn in waves and he inched ever so slightly away from her.

In the interrogation chamber was Vi. Currently also in there, and bent dangerously low over the table, was a man Caitlyn hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting yet. He wore his dark hair long and tied back into a ponytail and sported a neatly-trimmed beard. He also wore a pair of reflective aviators to obscure his eyes.

Caitlyn nodded towards them, “Who’s that?”

“Agent Xin Zhao. He’s one of the seniors and usually takes care of,” Collin waved a hand, “this.”

With a swallow, he offered Caitlyn his ear-piece.

“Do you want to listen?”

Caitlyn took it and instantly, her head began to pound.

“You think you’re a badass, eh? That you can,” Agent Xin Zhao casually flicked his hand, “just sit there and refuse to cooperate. Well, I got news for you, _punk._ ”

He grabbed her by the back of her neck and forced her to look up at him. Caitlyn’s hackles rose. Vi growled and glared at him with a vicious glint in her eyes, her shackles clanked loudly against the table.

“ _Your ass is mine._ You eat when I tell you to, you shit when I tell you to and you goddamn _talk_ when I tell you to!”

He let go of her and stalked around the table, straightening his pristine black suit.

“I suggest you start sharing what you know, or we’ll see how you enjoy a couple of hours in the Black Hole.”

Agent Xin Zhao made eye contact with the mirror, or rather with Collin, and left the chamber after that.

Collin quickly stopped the recording and squeezed out of the room behind Caitlyn, mindful not to disturb her angry brooding. He met the Agent in the hallway and started animatedly talking to him, probably to keep him from entering the side room and finding Caitlyn there.

Vi was quaking. From anger or anxiety, Caitlyn couldn’t say. All she could focus on was the white of her knuckles as she clung to the metal bar on top of the table.

She’d have to act, and quickly.

* * *

Half an hour later, the door hatch to the interrogation room opened yet again. This time, however, it was Caitlyn who stepped through.

Vi glared at her. She still looked as haggard as she had the day prior. But, Caitlyn noted with some relief, the spark in her eyes was present.

She had decided to give Vi some time to calm down before going in and barraging her with more questions. Collin had successfully managed to steer Xin Zhao away and, after some persuasion from Caitlyn, agreed to relinquish his booth to her.

Caitlyn sat down in the chair and crossed her arms. She hadn’t brought anything with her this time; no cube, no questions, not even her self-composure. She was still angry, still exhausted.

Vi watched her curiously, but didn’t say anything.

For a long moment, the two simply stared at one another. Eventually, Caitlyn sighed and drove a hand through her hair. She was tired and she knew she looked the part.

“Why do I get the feeling you’ve done this before?” she asked.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at Vi, then looked towards the mirror.

It was just a mirror from this side. She could see her reflection, Vi’s reflection, and the glare of the light from the overhead lamps.

“You’re right.”

Caitlyn snapped back to Vi. Vi was still looking at her, but something about her was different. She wasn’t slouching anymore.

“I’ve been arrested before,” Vi explained.

A smile tugged at her mouth.

Vi shrugged, “I know exactly what this is all about.”

Her posture was almost relaxed, Caitlyn now realised, as if she was completely comfortable with her situation. As if she’d done all of this countless times before. That was new.

But Caitlyn chuckled and shook her head, “No. I don’t think you know what this is about, at all.”

That comment had Vi searching her eyes. She still seemed unbothered though.

“You think you’re being suspected of something,” Caitlyn leant back.

“You think we’re trying to get you busted.”

She sat there, opposite of Vi, and showed Vi that she too, was comfortable within these walls.

“We’re trying to get to the bottom of this. We want to find out what is being done to the citizens. Who this,” she decided to take a calculated risk, “ _Viktor_ is and where he’s hiding.”

Something in Vi’s eyes flashed at the name and Caitlyn instantly knew that she was on the right track. She sighed again for show and then fixed Vi with a stare.

“I’m not here to judge you, or your actions. I’m here because I need your help. We’re poking around in the dark and we’ve got nothing to work with. Except you.”

Vi narrowed her eyes. Caitlyn had her attention now, but it wasn’t yet enough. She knew that herself. So she went a bit further.

“You don’t need to play the tough one. The cameras are all off and there’s no-one,” she pointed to the two-way mirror, “behind that wall.”

She made sure to keep Vi’s stare, “It’s just you and me. You can trust me, Vi.”

The usage of her name was a gamble, but Caitlyn had the feeling she was getting somewhere here.

Vi jutted out her chin, “How do I know you’re not lying?”

“Remember that other guy from just before? Detective Zhao?”

“He didn’t look like a Detective,” Vi argued and Caitlyn grinned slightly.

“Yes, he isn’t a Detective. But I’m one, and I’m willing to give you a real chance here, to do some good. To help us arrest a truly dangerous man.”

Caitlyn’s eyes flickered between Vi’s.

“You will be out of here,” she made a motion with her hand, indicating the chamber, the building, the people behind all this, “and they won’t bother you any longer.”

Leaving Vi wanting for just a second, Caitlyn finally stated her offer, “You help us figure this whole mess out, and your entire criminal record will be erased.”

Vi’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

“You will cooperate with us, _with me,_ and go free after the job is done. Whatever dirt they have on you will be dropped, and no-one will be on your heels anymore.”

Vi licked her lips and tried to spot the lie in Caitlyn’s words. It was a good offer, and she would be an idiot to decline. Caitlyn knew that.

“No charges left?”

“No charges left,” Caitlyn promised.

Vi seemed to contemplate. She chewed on the inside of her cheek and Caitlyn couldn’t help but glance at the tattoo on her face.

“We’ll work together, as a team, and bring Viktor in for what he did.”

“Will I be able to… y’know…”

“On my terms,” Caitlyn quickly clarified with a raised eyebrow before some nonsense would be proposed.

Vi’s eyes crinkled with mischief. Then she narrowed her eyes as she thought the proposal over. Caitlyn knew she held her breath and it was irritating to herself, but she couldn’t help it.

Finally, Vi straightened and said, “I need a haircut.”

Caitlyn smiled and nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy, things are looking up.
> 
> I'm very sorry (for myself included) to tell you guys that my work from home is now officially over since yesterday and that I won't have nearly as much time writing as I'd like to have. I'm having a blast with this fiction and I'll try to keep my enthusiasm up, but please expect updates to be only sporadic from now on.
> 
> Thank you so much for your time and attention ♥


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crook-turned-honest woman Vi is totally ready to be prim and proper… Not. (:

One haircut and a brief instruction about the most important things later, and Caitlyn and Vi were standing in the arms depot.

Vi was currently looking at a rifle that Ramon was presenting to her. It was a beautiful, sleek firearm, with two scopes for different ranges and an automatic speedloader module to quickly switch between ammo types.

Granted, it wasn’t Caitlyn’s temporal blaster rifle and it didn’t operate with searing hot plasma or anything of the sort, but Caitlyn found it quite lovely nonetheless.

Vi, however, seemed unconvinced.

She stood there with her arms crossed and, no matter how winsomely Ramon tried to persuade her to at least hold the gun, wouldn’t move to touch it.

Caitlyn watched the exchange with an amused smile.

Eventually, Vi rolled her head back, “Alright, buddy! This just isn’t working. Don’t you have something with a little more… punch?”

Ramon looked at her bewildered, “Err, sure… I think…”

He placed the rifle back on the table and went over to the weapons locker, rubbing his hands while looking it over.

“What’d you have in mind?”

Vi pretended to think about the question for a bit and Caitlyn watched her with interest. Then, Vi grinned devilishly and punched a fist into her flat hand with vigour.

“Well, usually I let my hands do the talking.”

Ramon’s face actually lit up at that. With an excited spring in his step, he walked over to the other side of the room. He issued a quick command to the interface of the firmware and the weapons locker retracted into the wall with a hum.

“I know exactly what you’re looking for then,” he said.

Another cabinet extracted and Ramon waved both Vi and Caitlyn over to have a look.

“Voilà,” he presented them with a flourish, “We don’t have too many different models, because these are used as ancillary weapons, but maybe they’re more to your tastes.”

Inside lay an impressive collection of close-quarters combat weapons — carbon-fibre batons and nightsticks with the ability to produce an electrical flashover curving alongside the weapon, nunchucks that were able to snap together to form a longstaff and gain distance on a hostile, silicon-carbide combat knives with one or multiple prongs and wicked-looking saws on them.

But the most impressive item in the collection by far, was a pair of gleaming, state-of-the-art ATLAS gauntlets encased in shimmering dark metal.

Caitlyn had seen such things before, mainly during recovery operations or for demolition jobs, but they were sometimes also used when the special forces needed to break down a door. Or ten.

Caitlyn knew they packed a serious punch and their operators enjoyed special training to properly use and maintain them.

Her eyes bulged. Vi, however.

Vi was in heaven.

“Holy shit! These are so cool!”

She grabbed the gauntlets and stepped back to give them a couple of test swings. Ramon beamed.

“Ramon, are you sure about this? I think a firearm is a better idea,” Caitlyn argued.

Much to both hers and Ramon’s surprise however, Vi was able to power the gauntlets up and have them ready and fully functional for combat within a mere two seconds.

“No worries, Cait! This is a piece of cake!”

A hot orange set of tech armour plates came to life across the knuckles and backside of the weapons, shielding them from potential damage while also boosting their damage output in turn.

“I’ve operated a similar pair back when I was—”

Vi stopped abruptly, looking puzzled.

“Huh.”

Her eyes flitted around and then she frowned and shook her head.

Caitlyn watched her curiously, but didn’t comment on it. Vi returned to join them by the table. She turned her hands around this way and that, still in awe.

“These are awesome.”

Ramon agreed enthusiastically. The two launched into an excited conversation about CQC weapons and their personal favourites when Caitlyn interjected.

“As happy as I am for you to have found your destiny in these,” she tapped the gauntlets with a finger, “We can’t let you get anywhere near a fight without proper protection.”

“Aw what! Come on, Cait, these are baller!” Vi made a face and was about to whine.

Ramon came to Vi’s support, “Actually, Caitlyn. We’ve got protective armour for such purposes right here.”

Vi punched the air in triumph and Caitlyn tagged along as they went to wherever Ramon stored the armour.

_Good grief, what have I unleashed…_

* * *

Satisfied with their little shopping spree in the arsenal, Caitlyn and Vi went to drop their things off in Caitlyn’s office. Her locker was, thankfully, big enough to fit both of their equipment without any hassle.

Vi looked happy.

“I’m gonna look so snazzy in these!”

Catilyn chuckled and humoured her, “I’m sure you will.”

“When are we gonna beat up some bad guys? Any, I dunno, thugs that need a facelifting?”

She cracked her knuckles. Caitlyn found her excitement rather charming, but her mood sobered.

“I need to check in with my superior. It’s going to be boring, so I suggest you wait here and keep yourself busy while I take care of that.”

Vi made a sound in the back of her throat that Caitlyn couldn’t estimate. But instead of waiting for Vi to make up her mind, she sealed the locker shut and left the office.

With the weapons and gauntlets safely stowed away, Vi wouldn’t be able to accidentally break anything. She hoped. What could go wrong?

Caitlyn walked briskly to Agent Markham’s office. It was located two storeys up. She was relieved to be alone in the elevator and gathered her thoughts.

The hallway up here looked exactly the same as it did on the fourth floor. Caitlyn purposefully headed straight for Agent Markham’s office. To her irritation, the office in question wasn’t displaying a name tag or even a room number.

The door was unlocked.

Bracing herself, Caitlyn knocked and entered.

She stood there, dumbly, and stared at a desk that was completely barren of any and all of the usual material one would expect to find in an office. To be exact, it was completely barren of anything at all.

The desk was vacant, and so were the chair and the walls and even the personal — unsealed — locker. Caitlyn put her hands on her hips and frowned.

She accessed her tech-tool and double-checked the building plan.

She hadn’t taken a wrong turn or exited the lift on the wrong floor. This was the correct office.

Questioning her own soundness of mind, she slightly jumped when there was a knock on the door. She whirled around and came face to face with Agent Markham.

“Hello, Agent Fitzwilliam.”

Caitlyn jerked a thumb behind her and the Agent shrugged.

“I don’t have a designated office. I work where I’m needed.”

She strode inside and the door fell closed behind her. Agent Markham took a seat at the chair behind the desk and indicated for Caitlyn to sit down on one of the two chairs in front.

“I heard about the questioning. Quite unconventional, and not at all what I’d expected from you.”

The Agent leant forward on the desk, “But, as long as it yields results, I’m fine with it.”

Caitlyn silently seethed, but didn’t interrupt the Agent.

“However, you shouldn’t make promises that you don’t have the power to deliver on.”

Caitlyn tried to reason, “It was necessary to gain her trust. She’s not only convinced to help us now, but invested in doing so.”

The Agent narrowed her eyes and seemed thoughtful for a moment, but Caitlyn couldn’t read her expression. Finally, she appeared to have come to a conclusion.

“I don’t like it, but you’re right. Your lie about being a Detective was a smart move. And if we get what we’re tasked with getting, then taking care of Vi’s criminal record is certainly the lesser of two evils.”

Agent Markham smiled at her, but it was cold and calculating, “Looks like you’re finally starting to think like an Agent.”

Caitlyn dreaded what that might mean.

“Vi will be cleared for weapon usage and the like and may accompany you on missions. But _do_ keep her on a leash,” Agent Markham continued with a sharp look.

She fired up her tech-tool and, with a few precise swipes, handled the clearances. A notification reached the inbox of Caitlyn’s tech-tool.

Agent Markham raised her chin.

“I expect regular reports on her condition and performance. You’re responsible for her and her actions, so it’s in your best interest to make sure she does well. And check in with the physicians regularly as well, to monitor her physical and psychological health.”

“Understood.”

“Other than that,” the Agent waved a hand, “Engage with her. Get to know her and make sure she confides in you about anything Viktor-related.”

“What about the files we confiscated from the lab? It seems I have no clearance to access them yet. The same goes for the files we recovered from Pyke’s lab.”

Agent Markham became rigid. It was uncharacteristic for her, considering she’d only ever carried herself with the utmost confidence and an air of superiority.

“The security level to access any confiscated data cubes is understandably high. They are being decoded and analysed as we speak. A whole team of professionals is dedicated to the task.”

“I would like to see them for myself though.”

Agent Markham’s tone carried a warning, “Any valuable insight will be relayed to you the moment it is gained. No need to burden yourself with that, Agent.”

Caitlyn swallowed her anger. She was about argue when Agent Markham accessed her tech-tool a second time and sent a file over to Caitlyn.

“There’s a minor inconvenience that was brought to our attention just this morning. It’s nothing the Agency would usually concern itself with, but maybe this would be a good opportunity to start building up Vi’s trust in us and for us to test her mettle. I’ve sent you the details, the official briefing will follow via cube as usual.”

Caitlyn nodded and Agent Markham sternly dismissed her.

The walk back towards her own office was a blur. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute. Agent Markham’s behaviour still put Caitlyn on edge — because she couldn’t get a read on her — and it made every conversation feel as if she was walking on eggshells.

But, no matter how much Caitlyn dreaded briefings with her, she had thus far responded positively to Caitlyn’s persistence. The issue with the data cubes was the first instance where she’d completely denied Caitlyn’s requests.

Caitlyn reckoned she’d just have to wait until the decoder team extracted something from the cubes. The thought helped to mitigate her uneasiness somewhat.

* * *

Back in her office, Vi had taken a seat in her chair and looked quite comfortable. She’d propped her boots up on the desk. That was irksome.

Caitlyn pulled up an eyebrow and snapped her fingers, “Boots. Off the desk.”

With a grumble and an over-exaggerated roll of her eyes, Vi complied. She’d also helped herself to the audio system, if the rather loud rock music blaring over the speakers was anything to go by.

“What is this trash music?” Caitlyn asked.

Vi’s eyes widened in mock exasperation.

A hand went to her chest, “Blasphemy! Do you even know what band this is? _Pentakill._ These guys are legendary!”

Caitlyn shrugged and waved a hand, “I don’t care, turn it off.”

Vi mumbled something in return, but it was lost over the music. Not bothering to argue with Vi, Caitlyn sat down in one of her visitors’ chairs. She accessed her tech-tool and pulled up a few small screens.

“Show me your tech-tool.”

Vi frowned, but hesitantly did as she was asked.

“Why?”

“Because I want to synchronise mine to yours and establish a direct comm link so we can exchange intel without having to use the official channels.”

Vi blinked but allowed Caitlyn access to her IP address and database.

“That’s usually faster and minimises interference. Unless one of our tech-tools gets hacked, of course.”

“And your boss agrees with that?”

Caitlyn’s mouth twitched in a smirk, “She just did. Got it on cube.”

Vi hummed, “Alright then. But don’t yell at me when some of your precious, top-secret data gets snitched by a pervert.”

“The channel will be secure,” Caitlyn said with a glint in her eyes, “as long as you don't get kidnapped and taken apart.”

That turned the mood sombre instantly. Caitlyn paled as she realised what she’d just said and Vi’s stare fell to the desk. Her fingers straightaway began tracing patterns into the skin along her right arm. It was a nervous reaction.

“Yea, about that…” Vi stammered.

Caitlyn licked her lips, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply anything.”

Vi tried to grin, but it didn’t reach her eyes, “Gotcha. But seriously, what are we gonna do now? You got anything we need to check out? A place where we could find this Viktor guy?”

Caitlyn closed the screens and pulled the chair closer to the desk.

“What do you know about Viktor, exactly? About what happened to you in that laboratory? Were you there voluntarily?”

Vi’s eyes flicked up for a second, then she grabbed a random pen from the desk and fiddled with it. Caitlyn took note of her discomfort.

“Can’t remember much, to be honest. I was just…” she made a grasping motion with both hands, undoubtedly trying to grasp at her memories, “…there one day.”

Her eyes seemed unfocused, like her thoughts were far away.

“They did something to me, didn’t they?”

It was spoken quietly and Caitlyn could almost hear the trepidation in Vi’s voice. Caitlyn decided it was a bit too soon to delve into that particular topic. First, she needed to gain Vi’s trust. As Agent Markham had said.

Caitlyn gently prompted, “You mentioned you’ve operated gauntlet tech before?”

Vi returned from her brooding at Caitlyn’s question. She hummed in confirmation.

“Yup. I used to have a pair myself. Got it from a scrapper from Shurima.”

“So you have experience with construction work?”

Vi shifted in her seat and licked her lips. She didn’t shy away from the question, Caitlyn realised, she simply thought her answer over.

“No,” she eventually settled on.

Caitlyn watched her curiously, but decided not to press the issue. This too, seemed like something Vi might willingly tell her once they’d gotten to know one another better.

“Alright. Since you asked, we do have actual work to do.”

Caitlyn brought back the holo screen of her tech-tool and showed Vi the missive.

“Apparently, we received a distress call this morning from a bank in the city centre. Warden forces are already at the site, but they requested backup. It’s a hostage taking and CCTV has been disabled, so we can’t be sure but we estimate that about thirty people might still be inside.”

Vi’s eyes lit up as she listened to Caitlyn attentively.

“Awesome. So we go in and bail them out?”

Despite the obvious severity of the situation, Caitlyn allowed a small smile to spread across her face.

“Exactly. We go in and bail them out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chap was a pain to write. It took me a figurative eternity to get the dialogue between Cait and Markham right. Which is to say, a whole damn day.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fasten your seatbelts, kids. We’ve got Action™ incoming.

Half an hour later and with their gear in the trunk of Caitlyn’s car, Caitlyn and Vi arrived at the scene.

It was chaos.

The Wardens had blockaded the roads all around the bank building and were currently patrolling the perimeter. Curious bystanders were gathering along the holo tape stretched around the crime scene, trying to catch a glimpse of the action.

Vi’s face was practically pressed to the window of Caitlyn’s car.

Caitlyn parked them some distance away and instructed Vi to stay close to her and not talk to anybody. They had to push their way through the mob of people, but eventually came to the edge of the restricted zone.

Caitlyn stepped through the crime scene holo tape and steered towards the nearest officer. Relief flooded through her — this was home turf. The officer seemed surprised to see her.

“Caitlyn?”

“Hey, Nick.”

The man eyed Vi up from head to toe, but she was too busy checking out everything around her to notice him.

Nick leant in to Caitlyn, “Where’ve you been?”

Caitlyn blinked at him.

“What do you mean, where’ve I been?”

She suddenly became very aware of Vi and chanced a glance at her. Thankfully, she was still busy with herself.

Caitlyn inched half a step closer to her old colleague, “I was promoted. Didn’t the Chief tell you?”

“Yea, he did, but only after Sully asked. I mean— How come, and all that? The Chief didn’t say much when you packed your things. We thought you got fired at first.”

Caitlyn almost snorted. She was aware that she’d been a brat towards Chief Higgins at times, but only because she knew she could get away with it. He wouldn’t have fired her, no matter what.

“I was offered a new job, that’s all. Nothing special. I’m still with you guys,” she patted his arm.

He grunted an affirmation, but still frowned.

“And who’s that?”

Vi was strolling about the area with keen interest. She’d probably never seen a Warden operation from this side of the coin. She looked a little bit like she was in a kid’s store and about to steal some candy.

Caitlyn licked her lips, “Someone I’m working with.”

She turned to Nick conspiratorially, “Nick, I’m kind of undercover here. So do me a favour and make sure none of the boys talk to her, alright?”

His frown deepened, but he nodded, “Alright, if you want.”

“Can you give me a quick rundown?”

He shrugged, “We’ve been at this for a couple hours now, but there’s nothing happening.”

Nick jerked a thumb towards one of the black trucks parked a ways off, “Cap’s in the truck. Talk to him if you want a sitrep.”

Caitlyn shot him a brief smile and then joined Vi just behind the row of Warden cars parked up along the bank building. To a layman it would seem haphazard, but it was actually strategic.

“You done talking to your pal?” Vi asked when Caitlyn approached.

“Just making sure they don’t shoot at us.”

Vi snorted.

“I’m going to talk to the officer-in-charge. You can already suit up, if you want.”

Vi’s eyes gleamed at the prospect and she eagerly accepted the keys to Caitlyn’s car before heading off. Caitlyn meanwhile walked to the truck in question and, with a quick smile towards the guard posted outside — his name was Harper —, was let in.

The officer-in-charge was Monroe, a burly man with too many years of service on his back. He looked up surprised.

“Fitzwilliam? Hah, didn’t expect to see you here.”

Caitlyn politely threw her hand up in salute, “Good to see you, Monroe.”

He grinned and crossed his arms, but allowed her to come closer and join him on the table. Cubes were lying around, accessing pictures and blueprints of the building, as well as personal data of the perpetrators.

Caitlyn flashed her credentials to him and he nodded, already informed that an Agent would be his reinforcement.

“It’s good they sent you,” he grunted, “I don’t trust those suit-wearing snobs.”

Caitlyn didn’t take offence.

“What’s the situation?”

“Twenty-two hostages still inside. We got three out already, but this pack of vermin is getting bolder. We need to act quickly if we don’t want any more casualties here.”

His eyes grew dark and Caitlyn was almost afraid to ask.

“Any _more_ casualties?”

“They forced their way into the vault with a set of explosives. Killed at least seven people, if not more. We can’t say for sure while we’re still blind.”

Caitlyn’s jaw flexed. The situation had just gotten a lot more complicated.

She nodded despite the circumstances, “Understood. I’m here with a… colleague. We can get in through the backdoor, if you keep them busy.”

Monroe pulled up an eyebrow, “You want to go in, guns blazing?”

“Do you have another idea?”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“You know I’ve always preferred the direct approach. Better get this over with before it even starts.”

Monroe waved her closer to the charts.

“Alright, Fitz. There’s an entrance at the back that’d be our best chance. It’s an emergency exit on the third floor. The CCTV is down, so you should get in without being spotted. The captors are probably located here, in the foyer at ground level. There might be some more still in the vault.”

He marked both the entrance and the foyer as well as the vault on the chart, and all three lit up.

“One of the clerks managed to get out a distress call from one of the desks there. It’s highly likely the captors haven’t moved the hostages further inside the building.”

“Makes sense. The ground level is almost entirely glass on all sides. They could see us making a move from a mile away.”

Monroe nodded, “While remaining unseen themselves. The windows are tinted, so we can’t see inside.”

Caitlyn clicked her tongue, “And they haven’t secured the upper levels?”

Monroe grunted in a non-committal way and advised caution, “There might be drones or some other nasty surprises up there, so be careful.”

He accessed his tech-tool and issued a few commands to his Wardens.

“Path is clear, I’ll send you the blueprints. Make sure not to botch this, Fitzwilliam. I don’t want to get my ass kicked.”

He threw her a look, “The Chief’s still pissed at you, you know. I bet he feels as if those SAC peeps stole you away from him, and he’s miffed that you accepted.”

Caitlyn grimaced, “Well, I don’t know what to say to that.”

Monroe shook his head with a smile, “The good ones always come and go. Shoot for the moon, and all that.”

He gave her a pat on the shoulder, “Get going.”

Outside, the weather was getting colder. A few droplets of rain caught in Caitlyn’s hair as she reached her car.

Vi had dressed up and was currently checking the fastenings on her armour. When she was satisfied, she looked up and grinned.

“We good to go?”

Caitlyn retrieved her plasma blaster from her trunk and quickly checked her gear as well.

“Yes. But before we go, Vi, there are a few things we need to clear out.”

Caitlyn made sure she had Vi’s attention before she continued.

“This is an official operation. That means we try not to harm anyone, understood?”

Vi’s face fell immediately.

“But I thought you said the baddies—”

“I said we get those hostages out, that’s our top priority. The _baddies_ come second. We will resort to violence as only the last possible option; if we can, we will not shoot anyone.”

“Or,” her eyes flicked to the massive gauntlets on Vi’s arms, “punch anyone.”

Vi grumbled something incoherent and Caitlyn ignored it.

“Alright, come on.”

They made their way far around the building, making sure not to stay in line of sight. The perpetrators couldn’t know there was a special force infiltrating the bank or the whole operation would be a failure.

Monroe’s intel proved to be correct, however. The two of them quickly made their way around the bank and found a fire escape ladder on the backside. It was an old, rusted thing that had probably never seen any use in its lifetime.

Caitlyn braved the construction, always keeping her oculars primed and scanning for signals from the inside of the bank. Someone had a few dampeners installed that jumbled her feedback, but it would have to do. Vi followed her up without hesitating.

When they got to the third floor, they were presented with a door. Caitlyn turned towards Vi.

“Okay, I’m opening our comms channel. We will try to stay together, but if we get separated, we can still communicate with each other. Is your visor functional?”

Vi tapped one massive, gauntleted finger against the side of her head and with a sharp flash, a hot orange holographic visor activated over her face. Vi gasped in awe as the world around her lit up and a soft-spoken virtual intelligence told her that the visor was operational.

She grinned and pointed at Caitlyn, “Your face looks angular!”

Caitlyn rolled her eyes, but let it slide, “That’s the interface, Vi. You’ll get used to it.”

She issued a few commands to her tech-tool, which then contacted Vi’s. Immediately, the visuals on Vi’s HUD were cleaned up and properly sorted.

“I’ve linked our tech-tools. We should get immediate feedback now,” Caitlyn stated matter-of-factly.

Caitlyn droned on about a few things and Vi was struggling to keep track of everything, but Caitlyn seemed satisfied regardless after her brief instruction. She turned and disabled the alarms quickly and efficiently, then they entered.

* * *

The interior was dark. The lights were switched off and most of the window shutters were half-closed. Caitlyn’s oculars traced the faint electrical wiring within the walls and noted that it was the emergency power running.

 _Clever,_ she thought, _that those guys would disable most of the tech support system. It would have left them vulnerable._

She concluded that there must be at least one person among the criminals that knew at least some basics about cyber warfare. Behind Caitlyn, Vi climbed into the corridor. Her armour was powered up and the tech plating on her arms and torso glowed softly.

Caitlyn motioned for Vi to follow.

They crept slowly into the bank, all the while keeping an eye on the blueprints Monroe had supplied them with. Her gun lay comfortably in her hands and Caitlyn took a familiar kind of pleasure in the quiet and automatic adjusting of the lens.

“They shut down the power. We should try and get to the control room and see if we can get the CCTV back online. That way, we’d see where the hostages are being held and how many people we’re dealing with.”

Vi grunted an affirmative and continued stalking behind. Caitlyn led them to the staircase and threw up a few hand signs for Vi before she knelt down behind a corner. The seconds ticked by and nothing happened.

Bewildered, Caitlyn looked back at Vi, who was still sitting right behind her, keeping her surroundings in sight. It took Caitlyn an embarrassing moment before she realised her oversight.

_Right. Vi probably doesn’t know hand signals._

This was another curious thing she’d have to deal with; Vi’s lack of a tactical education. Maybe there’d be time for that later.

“Vi, I need you to go ahead. Your power armour should keep you protected, should we encounter any hostiles. Stay close to the walls. I’ll cover you.”

“How far down do we go?” Vi asked.

“Control room’s on the first floor.”

Vi nodded and did as she was told. She moved out from behind Caitlyn and began the descent down the stairs. Caitlyn followed with practiced ease, trying to keep an eye on both Vi and the stairs above them.

Her oculars were rotating and trying to piece together a cohesive picture of her surroundings, but the dampeners’ signals were growing stronger the further down they went.

They made it an entire floor before muffled sounds reached them from below. The two halted their trek and Caitlyn hovered on the mezzanine between first and second floors. Vi crept close to the railing and looked down, then immediately ducked her head back.

“Someone’s coming up!” she hissed.

Caitlyn clenched her teeth and tapped Vi on the shoulder to gain her attention.

“We have to back up, come on. We’ll find an office and wait until they’ve passed.”

As swiftly and silently as they could, Caitlyn and Vi backed up the stairs again to the second floor and then darted across the hallway to a random office wing. Caitlyn braced herself for an unpleasant eventuality when they entered, but thankfully there was no-one here.

Vi snuck in after her, and not a second too late.

Just as Caitlyn closed the door and they crouched next to the desk, a cone of light shone past the office through the corridor. Vi growled like a beast.

Caitlyn gripped her rifle and her oculars focused on multiple shapes just outside the office. She cursed inwardly. Apparently, a patrol was currently sweeping the building.

Her oculars worked and whirled, but the dampeners were still in play and hindered Caitlyn’s equipment more than she would have liked. The shapes stayed shapes and she couldn’t determine what exactly they would be dealing with.

This might spell trouble.

_Just brilliant._

Caitlyn licked her lips, then turned.

“Vi.”

Vi’s breathing so close to her was slightly strained in anticipation and Caitlyn felt her heart rate picking up.

“Shut down your power armour. It will give us away.”

Vi looked at her as if she’d suggested jamming a syringe full of tranquilliser into her own eye-socket. Caitlyn only glared back.

“ _Fuck._ You can’t be serious!” Vi swore in a quiet hiss.

“I know what I said, but we need to stay undetected.”

Vi pressed her lips into a thin line, but eventually complied. The power armour flickered out and her visor went dark with it. Caitlyn did the same to her own equipment, powering it down to a minimum level so it would give off neither light nor heat.

It was risky, Caitlyn knew that, but they had a better chance of getting to the control room if they stayed hidden instead of fighting their way to it and risking civilians’ lives in the process.

Satisfied that the office they were in was completely dark, Caitlyn tugged at Vi’s elbow. Together, they crawled back behind and under the desk as far as they could manage, and held their breath.

The seconds ticked by in what seemed like slow-motion, the perpetrators entering and exiting the offices methodically one after the other. Three more offices, two more, one more—

—their door opened.

Caitlyn could feel the tension underneath her own skin, her muscles primed to explode into action. Her eyes were locked on the boots carrying a man into the office. He took a few steps and Caitlyn could hear her own heartbeat in her ears.

She looked to the side.

Vi sat there, hunched over, and was staring at the man’s shoes just the same. Her eyes were wide, the dreadlocks at the base of her skull curled around the back of her neck.

Caitlyn hadn’t really paid attention to the haircut Vi’d gotten. It struck her as bizarre to notice it in this exact moment. Vi was deathly still.

Another second passed, then the man moved again. He took two steps, then turned, then the door closed, then the light from his flashlight vanished down the corridor.

They remained sitting beneath the desk for a few more moments and listened until the men were well down the hallway before they both let the air flow from their lungs in a shaky exhale. Vi was the first to crawl out from their hiding spot.

“Damn, that was close,” she exclaimed.

Caitlyn stood and powered her rifle back up, the lenses rotated merrily in response as the barrel extracted itself again. She stalked over to the unfrosted windows and chanced a look outside, ensuring that they were well and truly out of danger.

“You could say that,” she eventually replied, “Let’s get moving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally over 7k words long (which is quite a lot considering the overall length of the fic thus far), so I had to chop it into bite-sized pieces. You’ll get to read it in multiple parts now.
> 
> I take no responsibility for this monstrosity.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Two.

Caitlyn’s face was hard as she quickly ushered Vi out of the office and back towards the staircase. Regardless of whether the patrol was a random occurrence or something had tipped the criminals off to their presence, Caitlyn knew that stealth was no longer an option. They had to be quick now.

The two of them raced down one floor and Caitlyn accessed the blueprints of the bank once more. The control room was here and they’d do well to get the power up and running again before they would be found.

Caitlyn took point this time, leading them through two more hallways and into an open space office that was the EDP department of the bank. The entire office looked like it had just been occupied, with discs and data chips lying around and heaps of cubes upon the desks.

Caitlyn didn’t spare another breath before approaching the security hatch at the far end of the room. There were three dampeners plastered to the door, each sending out jumbled signals and traces that screwed up Caitlyn’s feedback.

She powered up her tech-tool and began to employ its hacking suite. A multitude of holo screens popped up, illuminating the space in front of her.

Collin had provided her with a set of standard-issue amplification suites for her tech-tool that came with the new job and Caitlyn had to admit she was impressed with how smoothly and efficiently they worked. Within only a few moments, the first dampener was disabled.

Vi was at her back, arms crossed, and watched her. She eyed the security hatch and then Caitlyn’s efforts with a critical eye.

“You sure you can get us in there? I’m pretty certain the control room of a bank is nearly as secure as its vault.”

“Quiet, I need to concentrate.”

“I mean, just think about it. If a dude could just barge in and disable the security measures keeping the vault locked and guarded? Imagine what kind of zoo this place would turn into!”

Caitlyn suppressed a sigh at Vi’s apparent insistence on being humoured.

“I’m sure you’re correct, Vi,” she said with a flat voice.

Vi rolled her eyes and turned away, “Alright, fine. Be a killjoy.”

While the hacking suite terminated the dampeners, Caitlyn applied a decoder to the panel next to the door. With a swipe at the interface and a quiet ping, the access protocol of the hatch was sent to her tech-tool.

Caitlyn skimmed over it quickly and noted that the last access to the control room had been this morning, just before the distress signal had reached the Wardens. It hadn’t been opened again since then.

Her cheek twitched unhappily despite her best efforts to quell it. While this moment was truly not the best to launch into a debate about banks and their security measures, Vi’s argument was actually sound.

The perpetrators wouldn’t have needed to blow a hole into the ground to get into the vault if they’d been able to enter the control room and actually disable the safeguards.

Caitlyn’s expression darkened. Lives could have been spared.

She filed the access protocol away and was promptly notified that the hacking suite was now done dealing with the dampeners.

“So, just to be sure that I got this right,” Vi then began in an entirely conversational tone, “The red dots are the bad guys, right?”

Caitlyn stopped what she was doing and turned around with a frown, when suddenly her own oculars — now no longer restricted by misleading feedback — signalled the arrival of multiple heat signatures flagged as hostile.

_Shite!_

Caitlyn pushed back onto her feet just as Vi raised her arm and the first few shots were, mercifully, deflected by her protective barrier.

Blinding headlights were exposing the two women and lights danced in front of Caitlyn’s eyes before she dove behind a desk to her left.

“Get to cover!” she yelled.

“There they are!” shouted a male voice from across the office.

A snarl from Vi was the answer as the woman, in blatant disregard for Caitlyn’s order, charged the men filing into the room.

With a furious roar suited to a caged animal, Vi ran straight at the closest man.

Caitlyn’s eyes bulged, “ _Vi, no!_ ”

Her breath caught in her throat as she fumbled with the safety on her rifle. Anger rushed through her, but she pushed it away. Now wasn’t the time to lose her head.

With a quick look over her shoulder, Caitlyn assessed the situation. Three men; armed and wearing armour. Each of them accompanied by a combat drone; also armed and primed to attack.

With gritted teeth, Caitlyn popped out of cover and fired a precise shot at the man to her left. He had just raised his own firearm and was aiming at Vi, when suddenly his kneecap was blown away. He fell before the pain even registered in his brain.

Caitlyn’s rifle hissed and reloaded in a split second. The man’s drone zeroed in on her, its lens spinning wildly. The glaring flashlight attached to the main body of the drone blinded Caitlyn momentarily and she growled under her breath.

Caitlyn promptly released a second shot, smashing through the globe serving as the drone’s system core and it went down in a hail of sparks. Her oculars signalled two downed hostiles; one injured (severely) but apprehended and one destroyed.

Vi meanwhile was drawing back her fist and delivering a bone-breaking punch to the man she had just closed the distance on. The red outline of the man on her visor flashed, then vanished not a second later. She whirled around, heedless of Caitlyn’s repeated order to get to cover, and felt the power of her other ATLAS gauntlet build up.

The massive fingers curled in on themselves and the excessive force propelled her fist forward with such strength and velocity that the air seemed to shimmer from heat. The violent attack caught Vi’s second opponent in his chest and he was thrown across the whole room and far into the corridor from which he’d emerged.

The weapon he held was crushed beneath Vi’s fist and his powered armour flickered out. His head hit the floor hard and he was out cold before he skidded to a halt a few metres further.

The two drones closing in on Vi were quickly dispatched with a mighty swat of her hand and a brutal left hook. Their gunfire was absorbed by Vi’s own tech plating, leaving her unscathed.

The whole fight was over within the span of mere seconds. Vi had effectively ploughed her way through a total of two men and two combat drones in quick succession and Caitlyn could only gape in horror as she kept track of the bodies hitting the floor.

The room went utterly silent after that. The only noises being heard came from the whimpering man Caitlyn had shot in the knee. He was crying and writhing on the floor when Caitlyn approached him.

Now, usually Caitlyn would have taped him and tended to his wounds immediately, but in her great anger she simply kicked him in the head. He fell unconscious immediately.

Vi was coming over, her visor deactivated and a broad grin on her face.

“Nice shot, Caitlyn!”

Caitlyn rounded on her and boomed, “Are you out of your fucking mind?!”

Vi instantly back-pedalled. She lifted her hands in surrender as Caitlyn drew close to her, her eyes positively burning.

“I told you to get to cover! And what do you do? You just run straight at them as if they aren’t armed to the teeth!”

Vi pulled her shoulders up and stood there like she didn’t understand what was going on all of a sudden, “Whoa, calm down!”

“You could have gotten killed, Vi! You could have gotten _us both_ killed with your recklessness!”

Caitlyn was livid, her heart was racing a mile a minute. She jabbed a finger at Vi’s chest, her rifle in a shaking grip in her hand and the unconscious men around them almost forgotten.

Vi’s eyes flashed in return, “I didn’t do anything wrong! They were shooting at us!”

“You ran head-first into a situation where we had no information about how many hostiles were swarming us, or what weaponry and tech they had with them! What if one of them had a grenade? Would you even have the chance to still be talking back to me then, I wonder? You should have just alerted me sooner!”

Vi gritted her teeth and glared back at Caitlyn, “Well I took care of them, didn’t I?”

“It doesn’t matter, Vi. Skirmishes like this are dangerous enough, but engaging an enemy _literally_ blind can easily result in someone getting killed. And we don’t do that, Vi. We don’t kill anyone!”

“I didn’t kill anyone,” Vi snarled defiantly, but there was a hint of panic in her blue eyes that gave her away.

Caitlyn swore under her breath and stalked away from Vi in an attempt to calm herself, back towards the man on the ground. She crouched and began treatment. The damage to his head from Caitlyn’s kick was only very minor, but his leg was completely crushed. It would probably need to be surgically removed and replaced.

Caitlyn quickly went from one man to the next and put them in shackles after applying first aid treatment where necessary, all the while steadfastly trying to reign her anger in. Vi was standing dumbly in the middle of the room, surrounded by destroyed drones, her eyes glued to Caitlyn’s back.

When she was satisfied that no-one was dead, Caitlyn snapped her fingers and ordered Vi to drag the men into an adjacent, smaller office that she locked afterwards. Vi angrily kicked one of the drones clean out of her way, but did as she was told.

They didn’t speak of the incident after that.

Caitlyn went back towards the control room, finally cracking the security protocol. The hatch opened with a hiss and a pop.

“Watch the door, I’m resetting the power levels,” Caitlyn ordered.

She didn’t pause to check if Vi would obey, but she did see her take position in front of the hatch out of the corner of her eye. Caitlyn swallowed in an attempt to clear her throat, and set to work on the system.

With the dampeners disabled, Caitlyn’s oculars took over the task of scanning and identifying the network. She accessed her tech-tool and began applying overwriting protocols.

Caitlyn’s lips thinned as she watched how easily her new upgrades breached the bank’s security network and altered it as they saw fit. She presumed only very few systems were not subject to Council authority.

When the task was complete, the feeds began trickling in again. One by one, the cameras came online and the dozen or so screens mounted to the wall in front of Caitlyn came to life. Soon, the entire building was back online and Caitlyn had a splendid look on the hot zone.

She quickly scanned the area and then issued a few more commands, rerouting the visual feedback and setting a timer to the security hatches keeping the building on lockdown.

After her work was done, Caitlyn briskly moved past Vi and motioned for her to come along.

“We don’t have much time before the reset. We need to get to ground level before they know what’s up.”

“What exactly did you do, though?” Vi asked and watched as the door hatch to the control room closed and sealed itself shut behind them.

“I’ve opened the gateway for the cavalry.”

Without further explanation, Caitlyn took point. Vi easily fell back a few paces and raised her fists, back on alert.

Caitlyn noted that, if nothing else, Vi seemed to be properly chastised. She wouldn’t want to deal with casualties, and the thought of _Vi_ dying because Caitlyn had failed to keep her in line was utterly unacceptable in her mind.

No, she needed Vi if she wanted Viktor.

With determination in her step, Caitlyn led the two of them back towards the staircase next to the elevators. When they finally reached the ground floor, voices reached them. True to Caitlyn’s prediction and to no-one’s surprise, there was a commotion on ground level. The perpetrators were issuing orders and harassing the hostages. Someone was shouting.

By nothing short of a miracle, Caitlyn and Vi managed to distance themselves from the staircase and slip into a close-by office unseen.

They had to be careful here, because this level was almost entirely aesthetic in architecture and would offer them precious little cover once the fire exchange began.

Thankfully, thick marble columns lined the foyer and separated a few seating areas from one another. Caitlyn chanced a quick look out of the office and got an overview of the situation.

When she was satisfied, she pulled back.

“This is the hard part, Vi. We need to keep them busy.”

Vi didn’t respond immediately. She also didn’t look at Caitlyn when her body canted forward, poised, like a tiger ready to pounce.

“I’m ready for them,” Vi pressed out between gritted teeth.

Caitlyn glanced at her and already felt sweat prickling at the base of her neck. The dizzying thoughts from just before wormed their way into her mind again and even though she didn’t allow any of them to even fully manifest, she found herself desperately hoping that Vi was truly ready for this.

Agent Markham’s words rang through her skull like a flitting bird and Caitlyn instantly grew agitated at the unwelcome intrusion.

_Make sure she does well._

Caitlyn had no doubt Vi would do well with those ATLAS gauntlets on her hands and a few bad guys in her way, but this operation was as much an opportunity to see how well they would work together as it was a trial by fire for either of them.

_You’re responsible for her and her actions._

The image of a dead body suddenly flashed before Caitlyn’s eyes and her blood grew cold. She blinked it away and told herself not to lose her focus at this time.

“Eight hostiles, all armed and all human. Two of them have power armour. There are no explosives on any of them,” Caitlyn stated what her oculars told her.

She threw a look at Vi, “Here’s what we do: The hostages are located in the middle of the foyer, right in front of the reception. We can’t risk them getting in the line of fire.”

Vi received the visual from Caitlyn’s oculars and studied the layout of the foyer already with heat in her eyes.

“The perpetrators have positioned themselves in a half-circle around them. The two heavies are by the entrance and are probably going to be a problem.”

“So how do we take care of them?”

Caitlyn checked the timer in her periphery. It was almost time. She looked back to Vi.

“I won't. You will.”

That clearly threw Vi in for a loop. Caitlyn met her stunned gaze head-on.

“Go out there and keep them busy. I’ll make sure the hostages get out of there safely.”

Vi was spluttering.

“There’s no plan on how you keep them occupied, Vi. Just make sure they stay away from the hostages, so I can do my part.”

Vi was clearly searching her face, but Caitlyn had nothing to offer except for a stony expression. So Vi bared her teeth and grunted an affirmative.

“Just… remember what I told you, Vi. No killing.”

Despite the wave of unease washing over her, worrying wouldn’t do anything for Caitlyn right now. This _had_ to work, there was no better alternative. So she took a deep breath through her nose. Her nano suit warmed her skin as it responded to her neural impulses.

“Wait for my signal,” Caitlyn said and kept her eyes trained on the timer that was mercilessly counting down.

Caitlyn raised a hand, level with her head, and Vi was staring at the stillness of her fingers in anticipation. Her entire body was tight as a coil, ready to be unleashed.

Time flowed by in agonising slowness, like back underneath the desk in the office, and Vi’s blood was pumping. Her fingers itched and the power core of her armour whirred softly at her back.

Then, Caitlyn gave the signal.

At once, Vi jumped up — and the whole building completely shut down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pull through, dear readers. I did, and I know you can too.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part Three.

The lights suddenly flickered out and in an ear-splitting noise, shutters crashed down from the windows onto the concrete to pitch the whole interior in black. Vi’s breath caught in her throat, but her visor was undeterred in the targets it showed her and her feet wobbled only slightly before she forced them to move.

Then, the emergency lights turned on. The whole foyer was suddenly tinged in red and as the shutters closed, screams erupted from the people now trapped in the building. A shrieking siren blared through the intercom. The fire alarm went off and the sprinkler heads turned on.

In other words, all hell broke loose.

“What the _fuck_ is going on here?!” yelled one of the men in tech armour.

“Who turned the lights out?!” another shouted in panic.

“The patrol isn’t responding!” a third voice chimed in with desperation.

The criminals pointed their firearms towards the ceiling, freaked out beyond belief, and only sluggishly gathered what was happening around them. By the time Vi had reached the first of the men, it was too late for him.

She drew her fist back and punched him clean across the foyer, where he slammed into a column and sank down, unconscious.

“Fucking hell! They’re here!”

Vi didn’t stop her momentum and instead immediately rushed the two men in power armour standing by the entrance. One of them dropped his weapon in a stupor and only barely managed to throw his arms up in order to block Vi’s attack.

He skidded backwards on the wet floor and his armour flashed, but he held his ground. The other aimed his sidearm at Vi and fired six shots in blind panic, four of which connected with the protective barrier shielding her upper body.

“ _Kill her!_ ”

The other men just now regained their senses and started rounding on Vi. Caitlyn watched the whole scene from her hiding spot, her heart was about ready to beat out of her chest.

_Focus, Caitlyn. It’s now or never!_

She seized the opportunity Vi had created to close the distance on the hostages. They were cowering on the ground, screaming and pleading not to be killed, scrambling over each other to get away from the sudden fighting.

When Caitlyn reached them, she firmly grabbed the first one she could get a hold on by the arm.

“I’m Detective Fitzwilliam, I’m getting you out of here!”

The man spun around to face her, his tearful eyes wide and glassy. He was shaking like a leaf, his shirt was starting to soak through from the sprinklers.

“Get to the office across from the staircase! We’ll handle this!”

Caitlyn pointed to where she and Vi had been hiding and dragged the man forward by his collar. She pushed at his back, finally getting him to move with another decisive command. The other hostages saw the exchange and quickly fell in line.

Caitlyn crouched in front of the receptionist’s desk, her rifle ready for action and kept a close eye on the skirmish unfolding no more than a few metres from her. Vi was now swinging her fists around wildly, desperately fending off six men who were trying to beat her down in a frantic melee.

However, two more men were finally catching up to the hostages making a run for it. They turned, guns pointed straight into the crowd of people surrounding Caitlyn.

“Like hell you’re getting away!”

Caitlyn’s eyes flashed and she ripped her arms up, lining up a shot, and firing. A searing hot plasma round hit the man in the shoulder and he screamed. His arm fell limp at his side as he lost the grip on his weapon.

With a click and a squeeze, she gunned him down with a second shot to his leg. He fell to the ground, not knowing whether to hold his shoulder or shin, and wailed in agony.

The other man managed to loosen a short salvo of shots at Caitlyn.

The rounds hit her in the abdomen and she grunted from the impact, but thankfully her nano suit absorbed most of it. She snarled and returned fire, shooting him into both of his feet in quick succession. He keeled over with a surprised yelp, faceplanting right onto the marble floor.

Caitlyn switched over to her special rounds and fired her electrical net at him, pinning him to the ground in a tangled heap. The shock to his nervous system rendered him unconscious immediately.

Her hand briefly pressed against her body, where she’d received the fire, but she couldn’t feel anything despite a numbness beneath her hardened muscles. She got up from her crouch, satisfied that the hostages were now mostly in safety. They had managed to get out of the hot zone without sustaining losses.

They weren’t finished, however.

Vi was currently breaking another man’s nose, three of them lay at her feet already. She was engaged in a grapple with one of the heavies. He’d drawn a baton and was mercilessly swinging at her, which had her on the defence.

Caitlyn watched the exchange for about half a second before determining that Vi’s quick footwork would keep her on her toes. She popped out the spent heat sink on her rifle and deftly reloaded.

A static crackle in her implanted ear piece reached her. It was Monroe.

“ _Fitz! We’re ready, open the gates!_ ”

Caitlyn fired a shot at a man trying to get at Vi from behind and felled him.

“Vi! Disengage! We need a door!”

Vi grunted with exertion as she swatted the baton away from her face once more, “Kinda busy, Cait!”

“The shutters, Vi! Get us out of here _now!_ ”

Vi snarled and managed to get in between the burly man’s defences. She closed the distance and tackled him with her shoulder, sending him crashing into another column. She took another step and shifted her weight, putting all of it behind her punch.

It hit him square in the stomach and he doubled over, spit flying from his mouth. The column behind him cracked dangerously.

“Do it!” Caitlyn ordered once more and Vi finally did as she was told.

“Well there you have it!” Vi shouted angrily and powered up her gauntlet.

She battered her fist at the glass window, shattering it completely. Her fist kept flying and as it connected with the dark steel shutters, the tech armour unleashed the stored power behind the punch.

A blast erupted from Vi’s knuckles, destroying the metal plates and sending them flying. The noise from the shrieking metal had Caitlyn grinding her teeth and she shielded her face from the glass shards raining down on them.

Dust and sharp pieces of steel and glass were catapulted outside onto the street, and through the gap Caitlyn could see muted sunlight filtering in. A rock seemed to fall through her chest in relief.

Soon after, shadowed figures appeared in the gap, marching inside the building with flashlights mounted to their masks and guns pointed to the men strewn about the foyer.

Finally. It was over.

A chorus of “Clear!” soon surrounded the two women. Vi jumped back surprised and she was just about to attack the next guy stepping through the gap on sight, but Caitlyn reached her before she could act and held her back with a hand on her shoulder.

“Vi, stop!”

Vi whirled around with wild eyes, she was panting.

“Those are our guys,” Caitlyn simply explained and watched as the frenzy evaporated from Vi’s gaze.

The Wardens rushed in, armed to the teeth and efficiently detaining the men lying around. Caitlyn found Nick among them and stopped him briefly.

“There are three more men locked in an office in the EDP department on the first floor. We’ve apprehended them, but they need medical attention.”

Nick nodded grimly, “Got it.”

He waved over some of his colleagues and together, they made their way up the stairs to find the remaining men.

Caitlyn took a deep breath as a familiar routine began that was so ingrained into her senses, that it managed to calm her almost instantly. She blinked her eyes to switch her oculars back into regular mode.

Next to her, Vi still looked like she was about to vibrate, but at least she’d lowered her fists. The gauntlets were steaming and scratches were visible on the metal surface.

Monroe was the last to step through the gap and he immediately steered towards Caitlyn, entirely heedless of the torrent of water still pummelling down on them.

“Nice job, Fitz!”

He clapped her on the shoulder, “For a second I thought you’d get yourselves killed in here, but it seems your plan worked out.”

His eyes crinkled around the edges and Caitlyn knew this was as much a smile as the man could muster. Caitlyn nodded at him.

“Good timing on your part.”

Monroe barked a few orders to his men and they hurried along. The hostages were escorted out of the building. They looked worse for wear, but seemed unharmed.

“All the remaining twenty-two hostages safe and sound. Well, I’ll be damned,” he mused and crossed his arms.

“A smashing success, quite literally,” Monroe leaned forward and looked around Caitlyn, towards Vi, “You pack a serious punch, girl.”

Vi’s face was stone. Caitlyn’s eyes darted from Monroe to Vi and she was almost certain that, despite Vi’s lack of a response, she saw an appreciative gleam in her eyes.

“Get a move on, boys. I want to be home before dinner. And would someone please turn off the damn water?”

He turned back to Caitlyn, “We’ll wrap this up, collect the bodies from the vault… You know the drill. You two get out of here and report back to your superiors.”

Monroe made to walk away, but turned back and pointed a finger at Vi, who straightened in response.

“For what it’s worth, keep your partner around! She seems capable.”

The quip was probably meant as a simple thanks to the both of them, but Caitlyn felt something unfold in her chest. It felt like satisfaction.

Yes, the operation had been a success. Despite the tragic deaths, the other hostages were freed, no-one else had died once the two of them had arrived at the scene, and Caitlyn’s cover as a Detective hadn’t been blown in the process.

Caitlyn could ignore the damage Vi’d done to the interior. Surely someone else would deal with that.

A cautious smile crept on Caitlyn’s face and the warm feeling in her chest persisted.

* * *

Back at the office, Caitlyn and Vi were greeted with congratulations and praise from various agents they passed in the hallways.

Of course, Caitlyn mused, word had already done the rounds in the Agency. A notification to her tech-tool had reached her the second she’d set foot into the building. She wouldn’t have been surprised had Agent Markham installed a mole among Monroe’s men in order to monitor her.

She jutted her chin out; Markham was the kind of person to do something like that, but even then no-one could deny the successful outcome of the operation.

When they entered the elevator, Caitlyn punched in two destinations, and they went down first. Vi looked at her questioningly.

“Isn’t your office up?”

“Yes, but we need to have our gear cleaned and your power cells need a recharge.”

The elevator doors opened when they reached the basement and Vi got off, turning back to Caitlyn who gave her the key to her office.

“Go see Ramon, he’ll take care of it. I need to speak with my superior, but I’ll find you in the office after.”

Vi nodded and headed off.

The elevator took Caitlyn back up, to the sixth floor, where Markham’s pseudo-office was located. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, what Markham was going to say, but Caitlyn wouldn’t wait for her mind to make up a plethora of scenarios when she could get the answer straight away.

Markham was standing by the window, hands clasped behind her back. Caitlyn stood in front of the desk, empty as the last time, and stood politely at attention.

“Agent Fitzwilliam,” Markham started and turned to face Caitlyn, “I see you’ve returned.”

Her eyes bore into Caitlyn’s skull, her hair once more in a pristine ponytail, and she didn’t even blink when she spoke, “How did the operation go?”

Caitlyn was almost certain her annoyance at the blatant side-stepping showed on her face.

“Are you saying you don’t already know all about that?”

Agent Markham’s cheek twitched slightly at the mild insubordination, but, Caitlyn thought secretly, she should have been used to it by now.

The Agent shrugged with one shoulder, “Humour me.”

Caitlyn made a conscious effort to unclench her jaw and she succeeded in doing so, “We rescued all hostages with no additional losses and apprehended the criminal elements. According to our intel, none of the perpetrators made it out of the bank prematurely, so the only financial losses should be listed in the damage report.”

Agent Markham regarded Caitlyn with narrowed eyes, when she finally motioned towards the visitor chairs, “Please, take a seat.”

The two women sat down. Markham stapled her fingers atop the desk.

“The operation went well, I was already informed about that. I’m inquiring about Vi — how did she perform?”

_Of course. She doesn’t care at all about the actual operation or the people we saved._

“She did well,” Caitlyn said, “She’s obviously lacking the tactical training, but she makes up for it with quick thinking and decision-making.”

Caitlyn’s thoughts went back to when Vi had saved them from being shot dead by the patrol that had cornered them before the control room of the bank. Sure, she’d been incredibly angry at Vi for not alerting her sooner of the hostiles, but she couldn’t deny that Vi’s swift reaction to defend them with her power armour had been the only thing to keep them alive in that first instant.

The way she let her emotions take over however, would need to be addressed. But Caitlyn didn’t mention that part. It was important that she got this debriefing right after all.

“She is able to operate her weapons to a satisfying degree, so I suggest she’s allowed to continue using the gauntlets instead of a firearm.”

Markham listened attentively to Caitlyn’s brief report about Vi. She didn’t nod nor shake her head throughout the whole exchange. However, Caitlyn noted the subdued spark in her eyes. She didn’t know what to think about that.

“Sounds promising,” Agent Markham eventually concluded.

She inclined her head, “I agree with your assessment regarding her choice of weaponry. Let her use the gauntlets if it keeps her happy. The tactical training is another good point, we should see to that.”

Markham waved her hand at Caitlyn, “Since she’s your charge, I assume you wish to take the practice into your own hands?”

Caitlyn couldn’t nod quickly enough.

“Good. The theoretical aspects can be covered by viewing material and the like. But I’m positive that she’ll adapt quickly. Anything else, Agent?”

Caitlyn gave a negative response to that question. Agent Markham however seemed not quite finished with her interrogation.

“Did she get injured? Any scratches or bruises she sustained?”

The question was a bit odd. Odd enough that Caitlyn frowned.

“Nothing, no.”

“Very well. Have her check in with the physicians regardless. I want her examined and a few stress tests scheduled for the next few days.”

“Understood.”

With that, the Agent rose from her chair and Caitlyn followed her example.

“You've done good work today, Agent Fitzwilliam. Now go home and rest up, you've earned some shut-eye.”

The dismissal was to the point, but Markham's tone had actually softened around the words. It caught Caitlyn off-guard. Nevertheless, the positive note on which the debrief ended left Caitlyn with a content feeling.

She smiled as she stepped on the elevator.

 _Yes,_ she thought, _that was good work indeed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You did good, child. You did good. I’m proud of you.
> 
> [EDIT 2020-10-12]: Refined the ending of this chapter.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. And so that “short action sequence” I had planned had suddenly grown three legs and a tail. But I guess it was necessary, in a way, because it was their first actual job together.
> 
> Well, let’s see how they both feel about it, shall we?

When Caitlyn returned to the office, she found Vi standing in the middle of the room with her arms crossed. She’d turned on the holo interface mounted to the wall and was watching the screen intently.

Caitlyn’s smile broadened as she approached, “I’ve received good news; my superior is happy with our work. She explicitly praised your performance.”

Vi didn’t even seem to hear her.

Granted, Caitlyn hadn’t exactly expected a joyous exclamation, but Vi’s utter lack of a reaction took her by surprise. Caitlyn stepped up next to her and followed her gaze to the holo screen.

_[“Breaking News: Hostage-Taking at River King Bank — Seven Civilians Dead”]_

A reporter was currently standing in front of the building, recounting the events that had occurred not even two hours prior. Pictures of the deceased flashed across the screen, next to a blurry visual of the Wardens clearing the street of debris.

Caitlyn’s good mood instantly vanished. Her eyes went to Vi, who was rigid as a statue. Caitlyn could see her arm tensing, her fingers dug into her biceps.

They stood there, motionless, until the report was over. Caitlyn’s throat was dry. Vi didn’t make a move to either sit down or change the channel and it propelled Caitlyn into sudden agitation. She fired up her tech-tool and swiped a finger across the interface. The holo screen disappeared in a static fizzle.

Neither said anything for a few agonising seconds, until Vi spoke.

“Good news, huh?” she looked at Caitlyn, her eyes distant, “That doesn’t look like good news to me.”

Caitlyn bit the inside of her cheek. She tried to sound reasonable.

“Trust me, I understand how it feels to be in the thick of it and then watch the news afterwards. They make it sound worse than it actually is.”

Vi’s eyes flashed, “ _Worse than it is?_ People are dead, Caitlyn! How can it get any worse than this?”

She sounded angry, frustrated, and rightfully so.

“Yes, and we couldn’t have done anything to save them. They died in the explosion, remember? It’s not our fault.”

Vi swore and threw her hands up in the air, “How can you say that? These people did nothing wrong and now they’re dead. It’s one thing if I beat the shit out of criminal scum, but these people were innocent.”

“Oh, so you make that distinction?”

Caitlyn knew it was the wrong thing to say the moment it left her mouth, but once it was out she couldn’t take it back.

Vi growled loudly and paced around the office, “It’s not the same. And don’t tell me I’m wrong; you shot at some of the men in there!”

She pointed an accusatory finger at Caitlyn and Caitlyn crossed her arms defensively. This argument was pointless.

“I don’t apologise for what I did, Vi, and neither should you. We did our jobs and we did them well, and it sure is a tragedy that seven people have died, but think about how many people we managed to save instead.”

She inclined her head, “If we hadn’t done what we did, many more hostages would have been in danger of being killed. The perpetrators would have certainly used them to their advantage.”

“You don’t know that.”

Caitlyn kept herself from scoffing, “Don’t be naïve, Vi. These people had already made murderers out of themselves. Do you truly believe they’d have refrained from killing more?”

Vi’s lips thinned, the tension in her shoulders was almost palpable.

“What good is this work if people still get fucked over?”

Caitlyn furrowed her brows at Vi’s stubbornness. How was she supposed to give a satisfying answer to that question?

“There will always be people who get screwed over, Vi. It’s impossible to please everybody, someone will always disagree. That’s why we have laws to uphold. To make life safe and affordable for the majority.”

Vi still wasn’t convinced, “We might have saved a _majority_ of people today, but that doesn’t change the fact that seven innocent men and women are dead. How can you justify that?”

Caitlyn took a deep breath and thought about all the times she’d had to put innocents at risk for the greater good. All the times she’d had to ignore their pleas for justice and cries for vengeance in order to do what was necessary to prevent even greater peril.

It was hard, each and every time it was hard, but Caitlyn knew what she was fighting for; what she was fighting _crime_ for. There was simply no place for sentimentality in this business, only the facts and the choices one was confronted with.

She looked at Vi. This situation, and Vi with her qualms about it, were no different.

Caitlyn deflated nevertheless.

“I can’t.”

She conceded, “We’re doing what we can. And oftentimes it’s still not enough.”

Caitlyn didn’t elaborate any further, and Vi seemed too worn out to press her for more. The fight had left her eyes. Vi sighed and sat back down at the desk. She hunched over, her gauntlets lay in front of her.

Caitlyn knew that continuing the debate was going to be fruitless and disheartening, so she tried to ignore the knot in her stomach. Her gaze flitted over the desk.

Various small parts and bolts were strewn around the surface, which had obviously been repurposed into a makeshift workspace for Vi. The panels covering the controls of the massive gauntlets were opened and Vi was altering between tweaking the system defaults and picking up the screwdriver next to her hand.

Curious, Caitlyn moved around the desk and peered over Vi’s shoulder.

The gauntlets were laying powered off and harmless and only now did Caitlyn notice that the transition from knuckles to fingers was damaged. The plate strapped over the back of the hand was heavily dented and uneven; it looked like something had smashed hard against its edge.

“What are you doing?”

Vi didn’t look up from her work, “Fixing my gauntlets.”

“I thought you handed them over to Ramon?”

“I gave him the rest of my gear. But these? I rather take care of ’em myself,” Vi shrugged and pried a bent screw out from underneath a twisted metal fragment.

She made a noise in the back of her throat, “Not that I don’t trust the guy. But if I’m going to put my hands in them, I want to be sure they’re not going to blow up on me or anything.”

Caitlyn pulled up an eyebrow and went to rummage through a small cabinet by the wall.

“They didn’t blow up in the bank,” she pointed out neutrally.

She didn’t even know why she mentioned that bit in the first place. Truthfully, Caitlyn could understand Vi’s argument on a personal level. While she agreed that gear should always be maintained professionally, she would never give her rifle out of her hands.

There were situations in which her weapon was her life and it could cost Caitlyn everything if it ever malfunctioned. So she had invested the time and attention into knowing it from the ground up, with all its intricacies and parts and every little detail, in order to be able to take care of it herself.

Vi’s tongue was peeking out of the corner of her mouth as she tinkered.

“True. But I reckon it was a close call.”

She put the screwdriver down and waved a hand at the gauntlets.

“Just look at them. Completely trashed, and I barely even got to use them.”

Caitlyn was about to argue that statement, beginning with how Vi had pummelled in more than a few faces during their operation, but her gaze fell back onto the damaged weapons and she held her tongue.

“Good point,” she settled on.

Vi shrugged again, “No use worrying about it. I guess the Wardens prefer their guns and electrocutes over power gauntlets. I’m not surprised they don’t know how to tweak them right.”

She went back to her task, but Caitlyn’s face had darkened.

She very much doubted the Agency would have even a single weapon in their arsenal not able to keep pace with the latest breakthrough in the ever-changing world of fabrication and technology. After all, the SAC was a Council-born institution and the Council was the most influential force in the galaxy.

This line of thought brought Caitlyn back to the silicon-carbide weaponry she’d been confronted with when she’d apprehended Pyke.

 _Same case,_ she concluded.

That the gauntlets would suffer this badly from what was arguably a pretty straightforward administering of a beating struck her as odd. And the way the bank’s security shutters had yielded to Vi’s punch made it unlikely that they’d be susceptible to regular application of force. After all, they were made to break through concrete and metal beams with both ease and efficiency.

Caitlyn was so lost in thought that she startled when Vi eventually looked up at her questioningly. She cleared her throat, preferring not to share her thoughts about Agencies and Councils, and put her own weapon on the desk.

With a pointed look at Vi, she sat down across from Vi and opened the case she’d retrieved from the cabinet. Inside lay a polishing cloth, various cleaning rods and brushes and a few small tubes of lubricant.

Vi grinned and shook her head before she bent back down over her own weapon, “Should’ve known you’re a nerd.”

Caitlyn exhaled in amusement and accepted the playful jibe.

They worked in silence for a while, each content to mind their own business and maybe mull the conversation over. Sometime during their work, Vi had gotten up and mumbled something about getting spare parts from Ramon. She’d returned a few minutes later with a large carton in her arm that contained a multitude of unused metal plates, screws and bolts, thin wires and cables.

Caitlyn took note of Vi’s rather deft handiwork and found herself stealing glances more than once. It seemed Vi was proficient enough to manage both the electronic as well as mechanical components of her gauntlets without too much of a hassle.

“You seem to know what you’re doing,” Caitlyn said.

Vi grunted an affirmative and met her gaze briefly.

“Told you before, didn’t I?”

Caitlyn could recall, yes. Vi hadn’t told her anything except given a vague hint that she was familiar with gauntlet tech.

“You got your gauntlets from… a scrapper from Shurima, right?”

Vi nodded, “My first and only pair, yes.”

“Have you actually been on Shurima?”

Vi was silent for a while. Her fingers stilled and she found Caitlyn’s eyes once more. Caitlyn stopped cleaning her own weapon just the same, waiting. Vi was looking at her, searching for something, and Caitlyn felt a little short of breath.

“I took them off a dude after I beat him up.”

The confession came easily then, and Caitlyn wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting. She pulled up an eyebrow.

“So you stole them?”

Vi gave a nod and went back to her work.

“He was a douche. Picked on those weaker than him.”

Caitlyn watched on as Vi fiddled with a particularly stubborn bolt. She noted how tightly Vi gripped the screwdriver in her hand and how unhappy the line of her mouth had become.

“Those people were all poor and he still preyed on them. He deserved every single punch I delivered to his _stupid, son of a—_ ”

—with a pop, the bolt came free and clanked onto the surface of the desk.

Vi picked it up in triumph, and then threw it into the carton by her feet.

“Never saw him again in the district. Good riddance, if you ask me.”

Caitlyn thought the information over. Apparently, Vi did have a criminal record, but Caitlyn already knew that. She’d assumed it during their interrogation and gambled on it. Vi’s unbidden confirmation of her suspicions through her reaction had opened up the opportunity Caitlyn had needed in order to win Vi over. It had been the beginning of their working relationship.

Why Vi would actually tell her the story however, was a mystery to her.

“…You do realise you just admitted your guilt to an officer of the law, right?”

It was meant as a tease and Caitlyn felt weirdly out of her element, but Vi’s grin was cheeky. She peered at Caitlyn.

“Figure my record is gonna be history as soon as we’re done with this,” Vi said and waved the screwdriver around, “so I guess I don’t care whether or not you know about that. ’sides, don’t things like that expire or something?”

Caitlyn made an affirming noise, agreeing with Vi’s logic, “They do.”

She carefully cleaned the lenses on her rifle.

“Anything more you would like to get off your chest while you still can?”

Vi chuckled, “There’re a few things I could confess.”

She put the screwdriver down and leant back in her chair, counting with her fingers, “Let’s see. When I was barely a teenager, I hijacked a car and got caught. They had to let me go because I wasn’t accountable yet. Before that, I had a history of stealing bikes.”

She absent-mindedly wiped some grease from her thumb, “After I turned sixteen, my first job was in a shady as hell tat studio in downtown Zaun. The shop got busted by Wardens a few months later, but I’d made some money and some contacts by then.”

Vi proudly pointed to the cog tattooed on her neck, “Got my first tat during that time too. This one right here. Done it myself!”

A small smile tugged at Caitlyn’s mouth and she studied the tattoo with admiration. Vi’s enthusiasm was strangely infectious.

“I kept mostly to the streets as a kid. The orphanage wasn’t a good place to hide when you’d done bad stuff. They’d always look there first and it would get not only you but the other kids in trouble as well,” Vi explained cryptically and shrugged with one shoulder, “Always felt bad to drag them down with you, y’know.”

“Which district was that?” Caitlyn asked.

“Edge of Factorywood.”

Caitlyn’s eyes widened. _Factorywood_ was a common term for the jungle of industrial facilities and chemical stations located in the poorest parts of Zaun, Piltover’s sister-state.

Zaun itself had originally been a small business town, but decades of relentless mining had eventually carved out a vast expanse of the planet’s surface, turning it into a gigantic maze reaching deep into Valoran’s ground.

Nowadays it was a slum city, and most of it was located beneath of what would later become the considerably wealthier Piltover.

Where Zaun was poor and dirty and discredited, Piltover was sophisticated, elegant and terrific. Caitlyn knew a great deal of the people living in Zaun had never seen real sunlight in their entire lives while the citizens of Piltover thrived under the sun as if it was their birthright to do so.

What Zaun had laboured for, Piltover had capitalised on. Caitlyn clenched her jaw.

The place where she’d found Vi in had been in a fringe sector of the city’s outskirts — this one actually located _on_ the planet’s surface and close to Piltover’s city borders.

 _That’s a long way from home,_ Caitlyn observed.

Vi went on, “Hope House orphanage had been my home for years before I eventually left. I wasn’t a complete idiot, so I managed to keep afloat on the street. After the tat studio was seized by the Wardens, I relocated closer to the surface but stayed under their radar.”

She scratched at her arm, “That’s when I met Davin. I stuck with him for a while and he showed me how to survive on my own.”

Vi grimaced, “He was a worker in Piltover’s hub district and an alright guy before I figured out what he did to the people on Shurima. One night, after he returned from one of his _joyrides,_ I cornered him and beat him to a pulp. Took his GOLEM gauntlets and made a run for it. Never looked back.”

“That was very noble of you,” Caitlyn said, and even though it didn’t diminish the fact that Vi had assaulted and robbed someone, she meant it.

Vi didn’t meet Caitlyn’s eyes as Caitlyn said it, and instead shifted in her seat. It was clear she was uncomfortable with receiving the compliment. Vi eventually found the courage to look up.

“What about you?” she asked.

Caitlyn knew she should have expected the question, but it still caught her unawares. Vi was looking at her with curious eyes though, and she found herself unable to deflect.

“My childhood wasn’t as exciting as yours, I’m afraid,” Caitlyn teased, “I grew up on Montressor with… my family. I left the planet after secondary school and came to Valoran for my studies. The Warden Academy had offered me a full scholarship and after I’d served my mandatory years, I decided to stay.”

She knew it sounded exceptionally boring in comparison to Vi’s story; her parents had always made sure to keep their daughter out of trouble.

Thinking of them still tore a hole into her chest.

Vi narrowed her eyes at Caitlyn, “Come on, that can’t be it.”

Caitlyn’s gaze snapped back up to her from where it had fallen to the desk. Vi was smothering a smirk.

“There’s gotta be more than that,” she insisted, “You can’t tell me you’ve got a clean slate.”

Caitlyn exhaled in amusement and crossed her arms over her chest. Vi was clearly trying to figure her out — which was fair enough, Caitlyn supposed. She’d barely given her anything to work with, after all, whereas Vi had disclosed a part of her past that most people wouldn’t be comfortable with sharing.

“No runaways? No detours into socially unacceptable circles? Or recreational breaks? Really nothing to make your parents lose sleep over?”

Vi wiggled in her seat conspiratorially, “You never even nicked some candy?”

Caitlyn had to snort and she rolled her eyes, “Well, I might have… shall we say, been a bit of a trouble maker occasionally?”

“Try me,” Vi encouraged.

Caitlyn had to take a moment to think, if she was being honest. She’d never had many friends nor did she know any rowdies, so she had precious few wild stories to tell. The only escapades she could initially think of were pretty tame memories of staying up past curfew and some underage drinking.

Thinking of underage drinking, however, sparked a memory.

“I had a classmate in high school who also just so happened to be the boss bitch,” Caitlyn started.

“ _Vicky Morado._ She was the real deal; pretty, smart and her family was rich. Typical Montressor breed, narcissistic and entitled to their own opinion,” Caitlyn waved a hand dismissively, “You get the idea.”

Vi grimaced, “Ew, love those types.”

“She was a bully too. Which isn’t surprising, I suppose. Anyways, I hated her. When she wasn’t harassing the others, she’d curry favour with the teachers.”

Caitlyn’s eyes went to the ceiling as she remembered, “We were on an excursion one week in seventh grade. It was pretty awesome, actually. Some of the boys had snuck in alcohol and we’d get drunk on cheap cider and try smoking for the first time.”

She furrowed her brows and smiled at the memory. Caitlyn hadn’t thought about her school days for so long that she hadn’t expected to recall any of it quite so vividly.

“Vicky, ever the perfect student, threatened to rat us out. The boys and her got into a fight and we ended up blowing our cover. I was so mad at her.”

Caitlyn didn’t mention it, but that night had been one of the few where she’d been part of the clique. Her parents had drilled into her to always keep an easy distance, to never mingle and give anyone the impression their words were of value to her.

She’d stuck to that — and suffered for it, Caitlyn had realised in hindsight. Her classmates had never had the chance to become real, authentic friends to her because of that illusion.

That night however, alcohol and the excitement of the forbidden had helped Caitlyn with bonding. So she’d been arguably furious when Vicky Morado had come along and threatened to take this blissful sense of belonging away from her.

Caitlyn chuckled, “I snuck into her room later that night, with tape and a pair of scissors.”

Vi’s eyes became saucers, “ _Scis—_ Caitlyn, you did not!”

Caitlyn actually blushed and she raised a hand to cover her face, “I did. Taped her hands and mouth and cut off her beautiful, long hair.”

“No fucking way!”

Vi broke out into wild laughter and Caitlyn felt her ears heating. It was so silly to still be ashamed at what she’d done when it had felt like sweet justice back then.

“Well, you can imagine the excursion was cut short. My parents were beyond mad at me. They were so embarrassed. Vicky’s new haircut was the talk of the school for months after that.”

Caitlyn clarified, “In my defence, it never got out that I’d been the culprit. Vicky’s parents were too busy hiding their precious daughter and my parents were scrambling over themselves to cover up my guilt.”

Vi was howling with laughter, “Holy shit, that story is great!”

Caitlyn’s gaze landed to the desk, “Huh, ask me about it. I was grounded for weeks after that. My parents forced me to donate my piggybank money to the local hairdresser so I would learn my lesson.”

Vi’s eyes glittered with mischief, “So there _was_ something to make ’em go grey about.”

It was meant to keep the light-hearted mood, but Caitlyn suddenly felt drained. She drove a hand through her hair and her eyes wandered, as did her thoughts.

“My parents and I… Well, we didn’t always see eye to eye.”

She spoke quietly, as if she were confessing a truth that she’d kept hidden away for a good reason.

“When you grow up in a wealthy family, there are certain expectations — to have the right friends and the appropriate relationships… My parents wanted me to join them in the lab, become a brilliant scientist like them. But I wanted to be a peacekeeper.”

Caitlyn threw a pointed look at Vi, “So I didn’t lie about that.”

Vi raised her hands, “No hard feelings.”

“It wasn’t something you’d do for a living when you could’ve just as easily sat back and live off your family’s money. Chasing down criminals and getting dirt on your shoes? My social environment didn’t exactly applaud the idea.”

Caitlyn swallowed before she continued, “We would argue. It wasn’t nice.”

“Damn,” Vi said, “Fighting with family always sucks. Feels like you can’t win no matter what.”

Caitlyn hummed in agreement. She looked down at her hands, pale fingers and black painted nails, and thought back on that day, eighteen years ago. She blinked.

“My parents died in a fire. Our house burned down while they were still in it.”

Caitlyn heard the sharp intake of breath from Vi, but didn’t wait to let her speak. She didn’t want to hear anything that suggested pity.

“I joined the Wardens to make the galaxy a safer place. To keep other children from losing their parents.”

It hit closer to home than Caitlyn would have liked, and yet a tiny voice in the back of her head told her how big of a liar she was despite having just claimed the opposite. The immaculate face of Agent Markham flashed through her mind, followed by the hunched silhouette of a haggard-looking woman sitting on a chair in an interrogation room.

Caitlyn swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up. There was a storm brewing in Vi’s eyes. Caitlyn had no idea what had possessed her to even go back to these memories and share them with anyone, least of all with the one person she needed to convince of the lie.

In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d talked about any of that.

When Caitlyn finished her story, Vi whistled, but Caitlyn couldn’t tell if she was impressed or wary.

“You’re a woman on a _mission,_ Cait.”

And, yeah okay, she sounded impressed now.

“I’m glad we’re on the same side. Wouldn’t want to mess with you and paint a target on my back. Phew, I’ve seen the way you shoot! Whoever taught you how to use that rifle of yours must be mighty proud of you.”

Caitlyn was about to correct her, that they _would have been_ proud of her, but she stopped herself. No, it hadn’t been a mistake on Vi’s part. She wasn’t dumb, after all. Vi was trying to make her feel better.

And really, who was Caitlyn to argue? The thought of having her father’s approval, even after his passing, was quite soothing.

Caitlyn regarded Vi and only wondered if she’d have earned it by the end of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Treat yo self to a bit of background (and world-building).
> 
> This dialogue ran away with me. I hope I didn’t screw everything up.
> 
> Treasure Planet anyone? :>


End file.
